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THE 


LIFE  OF  LUTHER; 


Ijjnial  %ifmmt  to  its  (Burlier  ^tmh 


OPENING    SCENES 


THE    REFORMATION. 


BY  BARNAS  SEARS,  D.D. 


PHILADELPHIA: 
AMERICAN    SUNDAY-SCHOOL    UNION, 

No.  146  CHESTNUT    STREET. 

KEIV  rORK-No.  147  NASSAU  ST BnsTO.V-No.  9  CORNHILL. 

LOUISVILLE  —  No.  103  FOURTH    ST. 


/H-v . 


Entered  according  to  act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1S50,  by  the 

AMERICAN    SUNDAY-SCHOOL    UNION, 

in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  Eastern  District  of  Pennsylvania. 


JtKg=»  No  hooks  are  published  by  the  American  Sundat-schooi,  Union  without  the 
sanction  of  the  Committee  of  Publication,  consisting  of  fourteen  members,  from  the 
following  denominations  of  Christians,  \\/,.  Baptist,  Methodist,  Congregationalist, 
Episcopal,  Presbyterian,  and  Reformed  Dutch.  Not  more  than  three  of  the  members 
can  be  of  the  same  denomination,  and  no  hook  can  he  published  to  which  any  mem- 
ber of  the  Committee  shall  object. 


I.  A  hmead,  printer. 


PREFACE. 


In  an  age  so  distinguished  for  historical  research  as  the 
present,  it  would  be  remarkable  if  there  were  no  demand  for 
a  Life  of  Luther  founded  upon  new  investigations.  In  the 
English  language  the  want  of  such  a  work  is  much  greater 
than  in  the  German.  In  the  latter,  the  facts  newly  dis- 
covered, though  they  lie  'scattered  in  many  different  publica- 
tions, are  recorded;  while,  in  the  former,  they  are  nearly 
or  quite  unknown.  To  say  nothing  of  Luther's  letters,  edited 
by  De  Wette,  and  of  Melancthon's,  by  Bretschneider,  without 
which  no  good  biography  of  Luther  can  be  written,  elaborate 
historical  essays,  almost  without  number,  on  points  connected 
with  the  life  of  the  Reformer  have  been  published  within  a 
few  years  in  Germany,  of  which  hardly  a  trace  can  be  found 
in  English  or  American  books.  The  year  1846,  the  third 
centennial  of  Luther's  death,  was,  in  this  respect,  unusually 
prolific.  In  the  recent  histories,  too,  of  old  towns  and  cities, 
in  the  publications  of  learned  societies,  in  the  later  critical 
biographies  of  many  of  the  associates  and  contemporaries  of 
the  Reformer,  and  in  several  special  and  general  histories 
relating  to  the  affairs  of  Germany  in  that  period,  important 
additions  have  been  made  to  our  knowledge  of  the  life  and 
times  of  Luther. 

About  three  years  ago,  the  Committee  of  Publication  of  the 
American  Sunday-school  Union  applied  to  the  writer  to  pre- 
pare  a  life  of  Luther,  to  be  published  under  the  auspices  of 
that  society.  Having,  from  the  time  of  my  temporary  resi- 
dence in  Germany,  in  the  years  1834-5,  when  my  historical 
studies,    under  the   guidance   of   Neander,   commenced,   con- 


•1  PREFACE. 

tracted  some  familiarity  with  the  writings  of  Luther,  and 
with  the  history  of  his  age,  I  was  induced  by  my  historical 
tastes,  and  my  interest  in  the  Reformer,  some  of  whose  minor 
works  I  had  edited,  no  less  than  by  the  hope  of  doing  a  ser- 
vice to  the  young,  to  engage  in  the  undertaking.  During 
this  interval  of  three  years,  nearly  all  the  works,  amounting 
to  some  hundreds  of  volumes,  which  cast  new  light  on  the 
subject  in  hand,  have  been  carefully  examined.  Many  new 
facts  have  been  brought  together,  and  many  obscurities  re- 
moved,  while  not  a  few  apocryphal  accounts  have  been  dis- 
carded. 

Persons  who  are  conversant  wiih  the  sources  of  information 
will  not  complain  that  the  admirable  work  of  Jurgens  on  the 
youth  of  Luther  should  be  followed,  so  far  as  it  extends.  No 
other  single  work,  except  Luther's  letters,  has  been  used  so 
much  as  this.  But  from  the  year  1517,  to  Luther's  death  in 
1546,  no  such  explorer  and  guide  could  be  found.  Fortu- 
nately, from  that  date,  Luther  is  his  own  best  biographer. 
The  five  large  volumes  of  his  published  letters,  with  the  sup- 
plementary collections,  embrace  the  history  of  this  period  of 
his  life  with  remarkable  fulness  of  detail.  The  fact  that  no 
•life  of  the  Reformer  had  been  written,  in  which  was  incorpo- 
rated the  body  of  materials  contained  in  his  correspondence, 
determined  the  mind  of  the  writer  to  make  that  correspondence 
a  subject  of  particular  study  with  reference  to  his  object.  The 
new  coloring  which  would  hereby  be  given  to  the  narrative 
would,  it  was  believed,  render  it  both  more  truthful  and  more 
interesting.  Luther  would  appear  in  his  own  dress.  His 
thoughts,  expressed  in  his  own  words,  would  reveal  his  true 
character  as  nothing  else  would.  Never  could  such  a  plan 
be  more  justifiable  than  in  the  case  of  one  so  accustomed  as 
he  was,  to  give  unreserved,  freedom  to  his  tongue  and  pen, 
and  to  speak  out  all  that  was  in  his  heart.  Indeed,  so  per- 
fectly does  the  character  of  the  individual  shine  forth  in  his 
own  utterances  and  actions  that  a  separate  portraiture  of  it 
has  been  omitted  as  superfluous. 


PREFACE.  5 

It  will,  I  trust,  appear  that  the  author  has  had  no  theory 
to  establish,  no  secret  purpose  to  answer,  but  has  studiously 
laboured  to  set  forth  Luther  in  his  real  character.  II is  faults 
have  not  been  concealed,  nor  his  virtues  wittingly  overdrawn. 
It  seemed  irreverent  to  interrupt  the  solemn  voice  of  history, 
and  ill-advised  to  imitate  the  example  of  those  who  transfigure 
imperfect  and  erring  men  into  pure  saints,  for  the  blind 
homage  of  the  ignorant  and  credulous. 

In  order  to  give  full  relief  to  the  picture  of  Luther's  youth 
and  early  manhood,  for  the  benefit  of  the  young  reader,  it  was 
necessary  to  abridge  the  latter  part  of  his  life.  This  design 
was  favoured  by  the  consideration  that  Luther's  later  years 
were  involved  in  controversies,  which  it  would  be  improper 
to  perpetuate  in  the  publications  of  the  Union.  Indeed  the 
biographical  interest  sensibly  abates  at  the  point  where  it 
begins  to  expand  into  general  history,  a  circumstance  which 
would  of  itself  justify  the  limited  plan  of  the  present  work. 

B.  Sears. 

Newton  Centre,  Jan.  21,  1850. 


Jr.-   ■*  /  * "  a?- — ,-m.] 


CONTENTS. 


PART   I. 

FROM   LUTHER'S   BIRTH   TILL   THE   BEGINNING   OF   THE 
REFORMATION   IN    1517. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Tago 

Luther's  Boyhood  to  the  Fourteenth  Year  of  his  Age,  when 

he  left  his  Father's  House 11 


CHAPTER   II. 

Luther  at  the  Schools  of  Magdeburg  and  Eisenach,  and  at 

the  University  of  Erfurt,  from  1197  to  1505 47 

CHAPTER  III. 

Luther  in  the  Cloister  at  Erfurt,  from  1505  to  1508  ...     70 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Luther  as  Professor  in  Wittenberg,  till  the  Beginning  of 

the  Reformation  in  1517 12G 


3  CONTENTS. 

PART   II. 

FROM   THE   PUBLISHING   OF   THE   THESES    IN    1517,  TO    THE 
DEATH   OF   LUTHER   IN    1546. 

CHAPTER   I. 

Page. 

The  Opening  of  the  Reformation,  1517,  till  the  Time  of 

the  Leipsic  Disputation  in  1518 194 

CHAPTER   II. 
The  Leipsic  Disputation 290 

CHAPTER  III. 
Luther  and  the  Diet  of  Worms 326 

CHAPTER  IV. 

From  Luther's  Capture  to  the  Close  of  the  Peasants'  "War, 

1521—1525 353 

CHAPTER  V. 

Luther's  Character  as  it  appears  in  some  particular  Spheres 

of  Action  not  included  in  the  General  Narrative  .  .  .  406 

CHAPTER  VI. 

The  Principal  Events  of  Luther's  Life,  from  his  Marriage 

in  1525  to  his  Death  in  1546 448 


DESCRIPTION   OF   ENGRAVINGS. 


Page  5.  The  Augusteum,  or  University,  on  the  left,  and  Me- 
lancthon's  house  towering  high  on  the  right. 

Page  11.  Taken  from  a  medal  struck  in  Saxony,  in  the  year  1617, 
the  first  Jubilee  of  the  Reformation.  It  represents  Luther  taking  a 
bushel  from  a  lamp  or  candle — a  symbol  of  the  gospel,  as  is  inti- 
mated by  the  open  Bible  at  the  side,  and  the  name  of  Jehovah  above, 
in  Hebrew  letters. 

Paffe  47.  Taken  from  a  medal  struck  by  the  city  of  Worms 
in  1617.  It  represents  a  burning  candle  standing  upon  an  open 
Bible,  with  a  serpent  endeavouring  to  extinguish  it,  and  a  hand  from 
the  clouds  pointing  to  it,  and  intimating  that  divine  strength  feeds 
the  tlame.  The  medal  itself  has  a  Latin  inscription — signifying, 
"0  Lord!  let  it  shine  on  for  ever." 

Page  51.  Entrance  to  Luther's  House  in  Wittenberg,  with  "  1540'' 
inscribed  at  the  top. 

Page  GO.  Luther's  House,  or  the  Old  Augustinian  Cloister.  His 
apartment  was  in  the  second  story,  connected  with  the  second  and 
third  windows  from  the  right.  The  entrance  was  at  the  door  on 
the  right  of  the  tower  and  near  by  it. 

Page  Gl.  The  Ninety-five  Theses  of  Luther  on  Indulgences,  posted 
up  on  the  door  of  the  Electoral  Church  at  Wittenberg.  The  hammer 
is  lying  at  his  feet. 

Page  125.  Luther's  Monument,  erected  in  1817 — 1821,  in  the 
Market-place  at  Wittenberg. 

Page  120.  Jubilee-medal  struck  in  Saxony,  in  1017,  representing 
the  Elector,  Frederick  the  Wise,  in  his  robes  of  office,  holding  a 
sword  in  his  right  hand,  and  pointing  with  his  left  to  the  name  of 
Jehovah.  By  his  side  stands  Luther,  holding  a  burning  light  in  his 
right  hand,  and  with  the  left  pointing  to  the  Bible.  On  the  table- 
cloth is  seen  the  Elector's  coat  of  arms. 

rage  193.  A  rear-view  of  the  Parochial  or  City  Church  in  Wit- 
tenberg, where  Luther  commonly  preached. 

9 


10  DESCRIPTION   OF    ENGRAVINGS. 

Page  194.  From  a  medal  of  the  second  Jubilee  of  the  Reformation, 
in  1717,  in  Saxe-Weisenfels.  It  represents  the  Church  founded  upon 
a  rock — the  waves  of  the  ocean  dashing  wildly  around  it. 

Page  289.     Gate  of  the  Church  of  All-Saints,  or  the  Palace  Church. 

Page  290.     Luther's  seal,  described  by  himself,  page  497. 

Page  .118.  Taken  from  a  medal  struck  by  the  Ciry  of  Nuremberg, 
in  1717,  representing  a  Bible  open  to  the  passage — "The  word  of 
the  Lord  endureth  for  ever."  V.  D.  M.  I.  M.  are  the  initials  of  the 
same  words  in  Latin — "  Verbum  Dei  Manet  In  iEternum."  On  the 
left  of  the  Bible  is  a  mason's  plummet-rule  or  level,  with  reference 
to  the  passage  (Gal.  vi.  16):  "As  many  as  walk  according  to  this 
rule,  peace  be  on  them  and  mercy,"  &c. 

Page  325.  The  Electoral  or  All-saints'  Church  at  Wittenberg,  de- 
scribed on  page  134. 

Page  32G.  The  Double-headed  Eagle  and  Crown  represent  the 
German  Empire. 

Page  352.     The  Yard  or  Court  of  the  Elector's  Castle  at  Wittenberg. 

Page  353.  Taken  from  a  medal  struck  in  Saxony,  in  1617,  repre- 
senting a  brick-kiln  on  the  left;  on  the  right,  the  brazen  serpent, 
or  serpent  on  the  cross,  and  the  name  of  Jehovah  with  a  pillar  of 
cloud  between.  The  meaning  is,  that  as  Moses  conducted  the  chil- 
dren of  Israel  from  the  bondage  of  Egypt,  so  did  Luther  conduct  the 
people  of  God  from  papal  captivity. 

Page  405.  The  Castle  of  the  Elector  at  Wittenberg. 

Page  406.  Taken  from  a  medal  struck  at  Halle,  in  Suabia,  in 
1617,  resembling  that  on  page  326;  except  that  it  has  the  city 
arms  or  seal. 

Page  447.  Chapel  Corpus  Christi  (Body  of  Christ),  one  of  the 
oldest  public  buildings  in  Wittenberg. 

Page  448.  From  a  medal  of  Saxe-Gotha,  struck  in  1717,  repre- 
senting a  palm-tree  among  thorns,  and  yet  nourishing.  Its  emble- 
matical import,  as  applied  to  the  church,  is  obvious.  Upon  the  medal 
itself  is  inscribed  a  verse  from  Ovid — "  Vixi  annos  bis  centum,  nunc 
tertia  vivitur  setas" — "  I  have  lived  two  centuries,  and  am  now  liv- 
ing in  the  third." 


PART  1. 


FROM  LUTHER'S  BIRTH  TILL  THE  BEGINNING  OP  THE 
REFORMATION   IN   1517. 


CHAPTER  I, 

luther's  boyhood  to  the  fourteenth  year  op  his  age, 
when  he  left  his  father's  house. 

Section  I. — Luther  s  Birth-place  and  Parentage. 

OME     twenty-five 
miles  north-west  of 


c  i 


Leipsic  is  situated 
the  old  town  of 
Halle,  on  the  Saale. 
From  this  town,  the 
road  running  to  the 
west,  after  crossing 
a  fertile  plain,  leads 
to  a  romantic  spot, 
at  a  distance  of  ten 
miles,  where  the 
hills  of  south-western  Saxony  begin  to  rise,  and  the 
flat  lands  extending  all  the  way  from  the  Baltic 
Sea  reach  their  termination.  Here  the  road, 
passing  between  two  beautiful  sheets  of  water, 
the  one  fresh  and  the  other  salt,  enters  a  vale, 
with  ranges  of  vine-clad  hills  on  either  side, 
which  becomes  wider  and  wider,  till  at  the  dis- 
tance of  nearly  ten  miles  it  contracts  again,  and 

n 


jo  LIFE  OF  LUTHER.  [1483-1497. 

the  heights  that  bounded  it  converge  and  form 
the  varied  and  pleasant  scenery  of  Eisleben,  once 
the  capital  of  the  county  of  Mansfeld. 

As  the  traveller  enters  this  town,  he  leaves,  on 
the  left,  before  proceeding  very  far,  the  house 
where  Luther  was  born,  now  converted  into  an 
edifice  for  the  accommodation  of  an  orphan  school. 
In  the  same  quarter  of  the  city,  a  few  rods  to  the 
east,  is  St.  Peter's  Church,  where,  according  to 
the  custom  of  the  times,  the  bo}^  was,  on  the  very 
next  day  after  his  birth,  baptized,  and  christened 
Martin,  as  that  happened  to  be  St.  Martin's  clay. 
This  circumstance  is  highly  characteristic  of  the 
religious  sentiments  of  that  age.  The  senses  and 
the  imagination  were  employed,  more  perhaps 
than  the  heart,  in  the  service  of  religion.  The 
infant  child  was  to  be  brought  at  once,  in  imagi- 
nation at  least,  into  connection  with  a  saint ;  and 
it  was  behoved  that  an  association  of  the  name 
would  be  adapted  to  awaken  in  him  a  correspond- 
ing association  of  ideas.  The  font  which  was 
used  on  that  occasion  is  still  shown  to  the  curious 
traveller. 

Leaving  these  places  and  passing  directly  on, 
about  half-way  through  the  town,  the  visiter  will 
reach  the  point  where  a  broad  street,  coming  from 
the  left,  meets  at  right-angles  with  the  one  he  is 
in.  Turning  in  that  direction,  he  will  see  most  of 
the  city  lying  before  him,  on  a  rising  eminence. 
At  a  little  distance  stands,  on  the  left,  the  old  and 
somewhal  stately  house  in  which  Luther  died. 
On  the  other  side  of  the  street,  a  few  rods  above, 
is  to  lie  seen  tlie  church  in  which  he  preached  his 


I!.  I    13.]  BIRTH-PLACE  AND  PARENTAGE.  ];! 

last  sermon,  the  very  pulpit  in  which  he  stood 
being  still  preserved. 

Let  us  now  look  for  that  district  in  Thuringia, 
or  Western  Saxony,  where  the  ancestors  of 
Luther  resided.  We  will  imagine  ourselves  at 
the  castle  of  Wartburg,  about  seventy-five  miles 
south-west  of  Eislebcn,  and  about  twenty-five 
west  of  Erfurt.  Before  us,  as  we  face  the  east, 
we  shall  have  Eisenach,  in  a  valley,  almost  at  our 
feet ;  and  along  the  hills  and  dales  beyond,  Gotha, 
Erfurt,  Weimar  and  Jena,  lying  respectively  at 
distances  of  about  twelve  or  fourteen  miles  from 
each  other.  To  the  left,  toward  Eisleben,  we 
look  directly  across  four  or  five  ranges  of  hills, 
which  run  parallel  with  the  Thuringian  Forest, 
with  long  narrow  vales  between  them.  To  the 
right,  or  in  a  south-easterly  direction,  lies  the 
Thuringian  Forest  itself — a  romantic  range  of 
hills  or  mountains,  extending  about  forty  miles. 
Through  all  this  tract  of  country  were  scattered 
different  branches  of  the  family  which  bore  the 
name  of  Luther. 

Directly  south  from  Wartburg,  on  the  south- 
western declivity  of  the  forest,  on  the  way  to 
Salzungen,  lies  the  hamlet  of  Mora,  where  was 
the  homestead  of  that  branch  of  the  family  from 
which  Martin  Luther  sprung.  Here  the  grand- 
father, Heine  Luther,  had  a  small  farm,  which  he 
seems  to  have  left  to  his  eldest  son  Heinz  or 
Henry  Luther,  the  uncle  of  Martin.  While  Heinz 
received  the  small  estate  and  assumed  the  main- 
tenance of  his  parents,  Hans  or  John,  Martin 
Luther's  father,  appears  to  have  been  dependent 


14  LIFE  OF  LUTHER.  [1483-1497. 

upon  his  own  industry  for  his  livelihood.  The 
most  probable  opinion  is,  that  not  long  after  his 
marriage  he  removed  to  Eisleben,  in  order  to  en- 
gage in  the  business  of  mining.  From  the  Hartz 
Mountains,  lying  to  the  north-west,  between  Eisle- 
ben and  Hanover,  there  runs  a  vein  of  copper  with 
a  small  ingredient  of  silver,  passing  through  Mans- 
feld  and  extending  to  Eisleben.  At  this  last 
place,  Hans  Luther,  Martin's  father,  took  up  his 
first  residence  after  leaving  Mora;  and  during 
this  residence  Martin  Luther  was  born,  Novem- 
ber 10,  1483. 

The  story  to  which  Seckendorf  gave  currency, 
on  the  authority  of  a  writer  too  late  by  a  century 
to  be  a  witness,  namely,  that  Luther  was  born 
while  his  parents,  yet  residents  of  Mora,  were  at- 
tending a  fair  at  Eisleben,  is  not  only  improbable 
in  itself,  as  D'Aubigne  well  remarks,  but  has  been 
proved  to  be  untrue  from  the  fact,  that  fairs  were 
never  held  at  Eisleben  in  the  month  of  November. 
Melancthon,  the  best  authority  on  this  subject, 
says  :  "  The  parents  of  Luther  first  dwelt  in  the 
town  of  Eisleben,  where  Luther  was  born,  and 
afterward  they  went  to  Mansfeld."  This  view 
is  confirmed  by  Ratzeberger's  Manuscript,  which 
says  :  "  Forasmuch  as  the  mining  business  had  for 
many  years  been  in  a  prosperous  state  in  the 
county  of  Mansfeld,  Hans  Luther,  with  his  wife 
Margaret,  betook  himself  to  that  place,  and  gave 
himself,  according  to  his  best  ability,  to  mining, 
till  he  became  owner  of  a  share  in  the  mines  and 
of  a  foundry.  There,  in  the  town  of  Eisleben,  in 
the  year  1483,  was  his  son  Martin  Luther  born, 


M.  1-13.]  BIRTH-PLACE  AND  PARENTAGE.  15 

....  but  the  elder  Luther,  Hans,  removed  with 
his  household  to  Mansfeld,  and  was,  on  account 
of  his  knowledge  and  industry  in  mining,  much 
beloved  of  the  old  Count  Gunther." 

The  report  that  Luther's  father  fled  to  Eisleben 
in  consequence  of  having  killed  a  person  at.  Mora, 
was  undoubtedly  got  up  at  a  later  period  by  the 
Papists,  in  order  to  throw  discredit  upon  the  Re- 
formation. Eisleben,  which  has  now  a  population 
of  about  seven  thousand,  was,  at  that  time,  the 
largest  town  of  the  territory  of  the  Counts  of 
Mansfeld.* 

As  Luther  passed  only  about  half  a  year  of  his 
earliest  infancy  in  Eisleben,  it  was  only  the  asso- 
ciations of  his  mind  and  subsequent  connections 
with  this  place  that  could  have  any  influence  upon 
him.  Indeed,  it  may  be  said  that  Eisleben  owes 
more  to  Luther  than  Luther  to  Eisleben.  He 
always  cherished,  an  affection  for  the  place,  and 
had  warm  and  intimate  friends  there;  and  the 
very  last  act  of  his  life  was,  to  make  arrange- 
ments for  establishing  a  Latin  high-school  in  Eisle- 
ben, which  soon  numbered  seven  hundred  pupils, 
and  has  not  only  existed,  but  flourished  from  that 
time  to  the  present. 

After  about  six  months'  residence  at  Eisleben 
from  the  time  of  Luther's  birth,  his  parents  re- 
moved to  Mansfeld,  six  miles  to  the  north-west, 
of  which  the  present  population  is  about  twelve 

*  The  independent  county  of  Mansfeld  was  a  small  irregular  tract, 
lying  between  Halle  and  Nordhausen,  not  extending  forty  miles  in 
any  direction ;  and  yet  D'Auhigne  says  Mora  was  in  it,  whereas  it 
was  more  than  sixty  miles  from  its  nearest  boundary. 


16  LIFE   OF  LUTHER.  [1483-M97. 

hundred  and  fifty.  Though  this  was  a  much 
smaller  place  than  the  former,  it  was  the  resi- 
dence of  the  various  branches  of  the  family  of  the 
Counts  of  Mansfeld.  The  castle,  now  in  ruins, 
stood  upon  a  rocky  eminence  on  the  south,  and 
overlooked  the  vale  in  which  the  town  was  situ- 
ated. The  scenery,  in  and  around  the  place  where 
Luther  spent  the  first  thirteen  years  of  his  life, 
was  rather  wild  and  romantic.  The  country, 
though  not  mountainous,  is  elevated  and  hilly; 
partly  cultivated,  partly  covered  with  pine  forests, 
and  partly  a  bald  and  sterile  rock.  The  pits  and 
slag  lying  on  the  surface  indicate  at  once  that  it 
is  a  mining  district.  To  the  south-east,  toward 
Eislcben,  an  extensive,  varied  and  sniiling  land- 
scape meets  the  eye.  In  the  time  of  Luther's 
childhood,  Mansfeld  was  a  place  of  active  busi- 
ness. Money,  in  considerable  quantities,  was 
coined  from  the  silver  ore ;  and  the  copper  worked 
in  those  mines  led  to  commercial  intercourse  with 
the  larger  places  of  trade  in  the  south  of  Ger- 
many, and  with  Venice.  It  was  undoubtedly  the 
prospect  of  doing  better  in  his  business  that  in- 
duced the  miner,  Hans  Luther,  to  leave  Eislebon, 
and  settle  at  Mansfeld ;  and  the  result  justified 
his  expectation.  For  we  find  him  at  a  later  period 
rising,  if  not  to  affluence,  to  a  state  of  comfort  and 
respectability.  He  became  the  owner  of  a  house 
and  two  furnaces,  and  left,  at  his  death,  besides 
these,  about  one  thousand  dollars  in  money.  He 
was  so  much  esteemed,  that  he  was  made  a  mem- 
ber of  the  town  council. 


IE.  1-13.]  PARENTAGE.  17 

Section  II. —  Character  of  Luther  s  Parent*,  and  their  Con- 
dition during  his  Boyhood. 

Luther  always  spoke  of  himself  and  of  his  an- 
cestors as  belonging  to  the  peasantry.  "  I  am  a 
peasant's  son.  My  father,  my  grandfather,  and 
my  forefathers  were  all  true  peasants.  After- 
ward my  father  went  to  Mansfeld,  and  became 
an  ore-digger."  As  it  has  been  already  intimated, 
Luther's  father,  after  he  became  a  miner,  rose  by 
industry  and  effort  from  the  condition  of  a  peasant 
to  that  of  a  burgher  or  free  citizen.  He  com- 
menced his  career  at  Mansfeld  in  penury,  but  with 
a  force  of  character  that  could  not  leave  him  in 
that  state.  "  My  parents,"  says  Luther,  "  were, 
in  the  beginning,  right  poor.  My  lather  was  a 
poor  mine-digger,*  and  my  mother  did  carry  her 
wood  on  her  shoulders;  and  after  this  sort  did 
they  support  us,  their  children.  They  had  a 
sharp,  bitter  experience  of  it;  no  one  would  do 
likewise  now." 

It  was  not  till  about  seventeen  years  afterward, 
when  Luther  was  a  member  of  the  university, 
that  his  father  had  the  means  of  paying  the  ex- 
penses of  his  education. t  His  honesty,  good 
sense,  energy  and  decision  of  character  won   for 


*  Waiter,  :i  word  which  has  often  been  misunderstood  as  meaning 
a  wood-cutter.  It  is  time  this  mistake  was  corrected  in  the  English 
and  American  writers  mi  Luther. 

|  Michelet  is  evidently  in  an  error  when  he  speaks  of  the  parents 
being  '•  in  the  enjoyment  of  a  small  property,  for  which  they  were 
no  doubt  indebted  t"  their  ion."  The  position  of  the  father  in  society 
at  Mansfeld,  long  before  Luther's  celebrity,  the  liberal  sujijHirt  which 


18  LIFE   OF  LUTHER.  [1483-1497. 

him  the  respect  of  his  fellow-citizens.  He  was 
open-hearted  and  frank,  and  was  wont  to  follow 
the  convictions  of  his  understanding,  fearless  of 
consequences.  His  firmness  was  characterized  by 
severity,  sometimes  approaching  to  obstinacy.  In 
his  actions  which  are  known  to  us,  he  appears 
clear-headed  and  decided,  going  right  forward  to 
his  object.  His  son's  bold  and  unwavering  course 
after  committing  himself  to  the  work  of  reform, 
was  just  to  his  mind.  In  the  very  midst  of  the 
Peasants'  War,  which  the  enemies  of  Luther  said 
was  caused  by  him,  his  father  advised  him  to  take 
the  bold,  and,  at  that  time,  even  hazardous  step 
of  trampling  on  the  vow  of  celibacy,  and,  in  that 
way,  bearing  his  most  decided  testimony  against 
the  pretended  sanctity  of  a  monastic  life. 

Hans  Luther  was  strictly  religious  in  his  cha- 
racter, but,  at  the  same  time,  had  the  good  sense 
(so  rare  in  that  age)  to  distinguish  religion  from 
monasticism,  upon  which  he  looked  with  suspi- 
cion and  aversion.  Hence  he  was  highly  dis- 
pleased when  his  son  became  a  monk,  and  it  was 
two  years  before  a  reconciliation  was  effected,  and 
even  then  his  opinion  remained  unchanged.  When 
Martin  left  the  monastic  life,  as  he  afterward  says, 
"  My  father  was  heartily  glad,  for  that  he  well 


he  is  known  to  have  given  his  son  while  at  the  university,  his  ap- 
pearance with  an  attendance  of  twenty  horsemen  at  the  time  of 
.Martin's  consecration  as  priest,  the  present  of  thirty  guldens  then 
mall',  and  Luther's  own  poverty  up  to  the  time  of  the  father's  death, 
all  turbid  such  a  conjecture.  Besides,  the  early  biographers  of 
Lather,  who  were  his  intimate  friends,  testify  directly  to  the 
contrary. 


JE.  1-13.]  PARENTAGE.  19 

knew  the  wicked  cunning  of  the  monks."  Me- 
lancthon  describes  him  as  being  "a  magistrate  at 
Mans  (eld,  beloved  of  all  for  the  honesty  of  his 
character."  Mathesius,  who  had  lived  in  the 
family  of  Luther,  represents  the  father  as  "pat- 
terning the  widow  of  Sarepta,  and  training  up  his 
son  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord." 

Of  the  history  of  Luther's  mother  less  is  known. 
Her  maiden  name  was  Margaret  Lindemann.  She 
was  born  at  Neustadt,  a  small  town  directly  south 
of  Eisenach,  and  west  of  Gotha.  Her  father,  who 
had  been  a  burgher  there,  had  removed  from  that 
place  to  Eisenach.  It  was,  no  doubt,  here  that 
Luther's  father  formed  an  acquaintance  with  her. 
The  circumstance  that  three  of  her  brothers  were 
liberally  educated  would  seem  to  indicate  that  she 
belonged  to  an  intelligent  family.  Melancthon 
says,  "  She  had  many  virtues  agreeing  to  her 
sex;  and  was  especially  notable  for  her  chaste 
conversation,  godly  fear,  and  diligent  prayer,  in- 
somuch that  other  honourable  women  looked  upon 
her  as  a  model  of  virtue  and  honesty."  That  her 
piety  was  strongly  tinged  with  the  superstitions 
of  the  times,  and  had  a  monastic  severity,  is 
proved  by  a  variety  of  incidental  remarks  found 
in  the  writings  of  Luther.  On  one  occasion  he 
says,  "  My  mother's  strait  and  rigorous  carriage 
toward  me  served,  afterward,  to  make  me  fly  to  a 
cloister  and  become  a  monk." 

As  one  of  the  most  important  objects  aimed  at 
in  this  biography,  is  i<»  trace  out  the  causes  that 
operated  in  the  formation  of  Luther's  character ; 
and  as  the  incidents  of  his  early  life  have  been 


20  LIFE    OF    LUTHER.  [1483-1497. 

very  sparingly  handed  down  to  us,  it  will  be  re- 
quisite to  direct  attention  successively  to  the  cha- 
racter of  the  various  influences  that  acted  upon 
him ;  and  then  to  collect  from  the  scenes  of  com- 
mon life,  in  the  time  and  places  of  his  education, 
and  from  his  own  frequent  allusion  to  them  in  his 
later  writings,  as  many  collateral  rays  of  light  as 
possible,  and  concentrate  them  on  the  points  in 
question.  In  this  way,  we  can,  in  no  small  de- 
gree, fill  up  the  chasm  which  has  so  long  existed 
in  respect  to  his  early  history. 


Section  III. —  Luther  s  Domestic  Education. 

Luther's  parents  bestowed  great  care  upon  his 
early  training.  In  the  strictest  sense,  he  was 
brought  up  in  the  fear  of  God,  and  with  reverence 
for  the  then  existing  institutions  of  religion.  The 
intentions  of  his  parents  were  of  the  most  laud- 
able character ;  the  faults  of  their  discipline  were 
those  of  the  age  in  which  they  lived.  They  were 
highly  conscientious,  earnest  and  zealous  in  the 
discharge  of  their  parental  duties.  But  the  age 
was  one  of  rudeness  and  severity,  and  they  them- 
selves had  more  talent  than  culture,  more  force 
and  sternness  of  character  than  skill  in  awakening 
and  fostering  the  generous  impulses  of  childhood. 
Their  discipline  was,  almost  exclusively,  one  of 
law  and  authority.  The  consequence  was,  that 
Martin,  instead  of  feeling  at  ease  and  gamboling 
joyfully  in  their  presence,  became  timid  and  shy, 
and  was  kept  in  a  state  of  alarm,  which  closed  up 
ili<'  avenues  of  his  warm  and  naturally  confiding 


M.  1-13.]  DOMESTIC  EDUCATION.  21 

heart.  "  Once,"  says  he,  "  did  my  father  beat  me 
so  sharply  that  I  fled  away  from  him,  and  was 
angry  against  him,  till,  by  diligent  endeavour,  he 
gained  me  back."  "  Once  did  my  mother,  for  a 
small  nut,  beat  me  till  the  blood  came  forth." 
"  Their  intent  and  purpose  were  of  the  best  sort ; 
but  they  knew  not  how  to  put  a  difference  between 
dispositions,  and  to  order  their  discipline  accord- 
ingly; for  that  it  should  be  exercised  in  a  way 
that  the  apple  might  be  put  with  the  rod." 

To  this  rigid  domestic  discipline  is  to  be  traced, 
in  a  measure,  his  being  long  subject  to  sudden 
alarms,  or  being  harsh  and  violent  when  he  rose 
above  them.  Though  in  later  life  he  was  fully 
aware  that  many  errors  had  been  committed  in  his 
domestic  training,  and  though,  as  he  himself  says, 
he  tried  in  vain  to  remove  the  ill  effects  of  it  upon 
his  feelings  and  habits,  still  he  found  in  it  much 
more  to  approve  than  to  condemn.  Alluding  to 
his  own  case,  and  that  of  others  of  his  age,  he 
says  :  "  Children  should  not  be  entreated  too  ten- 
derly of  their  parents,  but  should  be  forced  to 
order  and  to  submission,  as  were  their  parents  be- 
fore the///." 

The  fact  that,  from  three  or  four  brothers,  Mar- 
tin alone  was  designated  for  a  liberal  education,  is 
sufficient  proof  that  he  gave  some  early  indications 
of  talent.  It  is  also  evident,  that  the  father  took 
a  religious  view  of  this  subject,  and  desired  lor  his 
son  something  higher  and  better  than  mere  worldly 
distinction.  An  early  writer  states,  that  he  had 
, heard  from  the  relations  of  Luther  at  Mansfeld, 
that  the  father  was  often  known  to  pray  earnestly 


22  LIFE    OF    LUTHER.  [1483-1497. 

at  the  bedside  of  his  son,  that  God  would  bless 
him  and  make  him  useful.  Mathesius  says,  that 
Luther's  father,  not  only  for  his  own  gratification, 
but  especially  for  the  benefit  of  his  son,  frequently 
invited  the  clergymen  and  school-teachers  of  the 
place  to  his  house.  Thus  were  domestic  influ- 
ences brought  in  aid,  in  every  suitable  way,  to 
form  a  taste  for  moral  and  intellectual  culture. 
Well  would  it  be  for  the  world,  if  others,  in  more 
eligible  circumstances  and  in  more  enlightened 
times,  would  bestow  similar  care  and  attention 
upon  training  up  a  son  of  special  promise  in  such 
a  way  that  he  may  become  a  public  benefactor. 
This  is  what  Monica  did  for  Augustine  ;  Arethusa 
for  Chrysostom,  and  Basil's  and  Gregory  Nazian- 
zen's  parents  for  them,  and,  through  them,  for  the 
world. 

Section  IV. — Luther  in  the  School  at  Mans/eld. 

jYI ansfeld  was  situated  in  a  narrow  valley  along 
the  brook  Thalbach,  skirted  by  hills  on  both  sides. 
From  that  part  of  the  town  where  Luther's  father 
resided,  it  was  some  distance  to  the  school-house, 
which  was  situated  on  a  hill.  The  house  is  still 
standing,  and  the  first  story  of  it  remains  unal- 
tered. One  writer  says,  (on  what  authority  we 
do  not  know,)  that  Luther  commenced  going  to 
school  at  the  age  of  seven.  Certainly  he  was  so 
young  that  he  was  carried  thither  by  older  j>er- 
sons.  When  forty-four  years  old,  two  years  be- 
fore his  death,  he  wrote  on  the  blank  leaf  in  the 
Bible  of  Nicholas  Oeinlcr,  who  had  married  one  of 


M.  1-13.]  AT   SCHOOL.  23 

his  sisters,  the  twenty-fourth  verse  of  the  four- 
teenth chapter  of  John,  and  under  it :  "  To  my 
good  old  friend,  Nicholas  Oemler,  who  did,  more 
than  once,  carry  me  in  his  arms  to  school  and  back 
again,  wheD  1  was  a  small  lad,  neither  of  us  then 
knowing  that  one  brother-in-law  was  carrying  an- 
other in  his  arms."  In  this  school,  though  its 
teachers  were  frequently  guests  at  his  father's 
house,  he  was  brought  under  a  much  harsher  dis- 
cipline than  he  had  been  subject  to,  at  home.  It 
was  not  without  allusion  to  his  own  experience, 
that  he  afterward  speaks  of  a  class  of  teachers, 
"  who  hurt  noble  minds  by  their  vehement  storm- 
ing, beating  and  pounding,  wherein  they  treat 
children  as  a  jailer  doth  convicts."  He  some- 
where says,  that  he  was  once  flogged  fifteen  times 
in  a  single  forenoon  at  school.  Again,  he  says, 
"  I  have  seen,  when  I  was  a  boy,  divers  teachers 
who  found  their  pleasure  in  beating  their  pupils." 
"  The  schools  were  purgatories,  and  the  teachers 
were  tyrants  and  task-masters." 

The  injurious  manner  in  which  such  treatment 
acted  upon  his  fears  is  illustrated  by  an  anecdote 
related  by  Luther  in  his  Commentary  on  Genesis. 
"When  I  was  a  lad,  I  was  wont  to  go  out  witli 
my  companions  begging  food  for  our  sustentation 
while  we  were  at  the  school.  At  Christmas, 
during  divine  service,  we  went  around  among 
the  small  villages,  singing  from  house  to  house,  in 
four  parts  as  we  were  wont,  the  hymn  on  the 
child  Jesus,  born  at  Bethlehem.  We  came  by 
chance  before  the  hut  of  a  peasant  who  lived  apart 
at  the  end  of  the  village;  and  when  he  heard  us 


'J-i  LIFE    OF    LUTHER.  [1483-1497. 

singing,  he  came  out,  and,  after  the  coarse  and 
harsh  manner  of  the  peasants,  said,  'Where  are 
you,  boys?'  at  the  same  time  bringing  us  a  few 
sausages  in  his  hand.  But  we  were  so  terrified 
at  these  words,  that  we  all  scampered  off,  though 
we  knew  no  good  reason  why,  save  that,  from  the 
daily  threats  and  tyranny  practised  by  the  teachers 
toward  their  pupils  at  that  time,  we  had  learned 
to  be  timid."  This  incident,  which  has  commonly 
been  referred  to  the  time  when  Luther  was  at 
Magdeburg,  probably  belongs  to  the  period  of  his 
earlier  childhood  at  Mansfeld;  for  it  was  when 
he  Mas  " a  small  boy,"  and  Avas  under  severe 
teachers,  which  seems  not  to  have  been  the  case 
except  at  Mansfeld.  The  circumstance  that  Lu- 
ther was  then  living  at  his  father's  house  will  be 
no  objection,  if  we  consider  the  customs  of  the 
times  and  the  poverty  of  the  family  at  that  early 
period.  We  are  elsewhere  informed  that  Luther 
was  then  accustomed  to  attend  funeral  processions 
as  a  singer,  for  which  he  received  a  groschen 
(about  three  cents)  each  time. 

The  school  at  Mansfeld,  at  that  time,  was  taught 
by  one  master,  assisted  by  two  members  of  the 
church  choir,  that  is,  two  theological  students, 
who,  for  a  small  stipend,  attended  on  the  daily  ser- 
vices of  the  church.  Here  it  becomes  necessary 
to  describe  the  character  of  the  lower  schools  of 
Germany  at  the  close  of  the  fifteenth  century. 
They  were  called  "trivial  schools,"  because  ori- 
ginally the  first  three  of  the  seven  liberal  arts, 
namely,  grammar,  rhetoric  and  logic,  were  taught 
in  them. 


M.  1-13.]  AT   SCHOOL.  25 

At  this  time,  however,  and  particularly  at  Mans- 
field, a  little  monkish  Latin,  the  pieces  of  music 
commonly  sung  at  church,  and  the  elements  of 
arithmetic,  constituted  the  studies  of  the  lower 
schools.  These  schools  were  all  taught  by  a 
master,  assisted  by  theological  students  and  candi- 
dates for  some  of  the  lower  clerical  offices.  But 
as  nearly  all  the  offices  of  state  at  that  time  were 
in  the  hands  of  the  clergy,  there  was  a  general 
rush  to  the  schools  on  the  part  of  all  who  were 
seeking  to  rise  above  the  common  walks  of  life. 
The  great  mass  of  the  youth  were  wholly  desti- 
tute of  education.  All  the  others,  except  a  few 
from  the  sons  of  the  rich,  went  through  a  clerical 
or  ecclesiastical  course  of  instruction.  No  mat- 
ter to  what  offices  they  were  aspiring,  they  must 
study  under  the  direction  of  the  church,  and 
under  the  tuition  of  monks  and  priests,  or  candi- 
dates for  the  priestly  office.  The  character,  how- 
ever, both  of  pupils  and  of  teachers  in  these 
schools,  was  as  unclerical  as  could  well  be  con- 
ceived. The  schools  were  properly  in  the  charge 
either  of  the  bishop  and  the  canons  of  his  chap- 
ter, or  of  the  monks  ;  and  hence  they  formed  two 
classes,  and  were  called  cathedral  and  monastic 
schools.  But  these  ecclesiastics  and  friars  be- 
came indolent,  and  employed  cheap  substitutes  as 
teachers,  ar.d  lived  in  ease  and  in  plenty.  "  The 
drones,"  says  Luther,  when  speaking  on  this 
point,  "  drove  the  honey-bees  out  of  the  hive ; 
and  monk  and  canon  divided  the  pay  with  the 
poor  schoolmaster,  as  the  beggar  did,  who  pro- 
mised to  share  equally  with  the  church  the  half 


2Q  LIFE   OF  LUTHER.  [1483-1497. 

of  what  he  received,  and  gave  the  outward  half 
of  nuts  and  the  inner  half  of  dates  for  pious  uses, 
and  consumed  the  residue  himself." 

The  arrangements  of  the  schools  were  these : 
The  teachers,  and  the  pupils  who  were  from 
abroad,  occupied  large  buildings  with  gloomy  cells. 
A  sombre  monastic  dress  distinguished  them  both 
from  other  persons.  A  large  portion  of  the  fore- 
noon of  each  day  was  devoted  to  the  church.  At 
high  mass  all  must  be  present.  The  boys  were 
educated  to  perform  church  ceremonies,  while  but 
little  attention  wTas  given  to  what  is  now  com- 
monly taught  in  schools.  The  assistant  teachers, 
candidates  for  the  clerical  office,  generally  taught 
a  few  hours  in  the  day,  and  performed,  at  the 
same  time,  some  daily  inferior  church  service,  for 
both  of  which  they  received  but  a  trifling  reward. 

Thus  the  schools  were  but  a  part  and  parcel  of 
the  church.  The  assistants  were  commonly  taken 
from  those  strolling  young  men  who  infested  the 
country,  going  from  place  to  place  either  as  ad- 
vanced students,  and  changing  their  place  at  plea- 
sure, or  seeking  some  subordinate  employment  in 
the  schools  or  in  the  church.  When  they  failed 
to  find  employ,  they  resorted  to  begging,  and 
even  to  theft,  to  provide  for  their  subsistence. 
The  older  students  would  generally  seek  out  each 
a  young  boy  as  his  ward,  and  initiate  him  into 
the  mysteries  of  this  vagrant  mode  of  life,  re- 
ceiving in  turn  his  services  in  begging  articles  of 
food,  and  in  performing  other  menial  offices. 

We  have  a  living  picture  of  the  manners  and 
habits  which   prevailed  in  these  schools,  in  the 


M.  1-13.]  AT   SCHOOL.  27 

autobiography  of  Thomas  Platter,  a  contempo- 
rary of  Luther  and  a  native  of  Switzerland.  "At 
that  time,"  that  is,  in  his  tenth  year,  he  says  in 
his  biography,  "  came  a  cousin  of  mine,  who  had 
been  at  the  schools  [to  become  a  priest]  in  Ulm 
and  Munich  in  Bavaria.  My  friends  spake  to 
him  of  me,  and  he  promised  to  take  me  with  him 
to  the  schools  in  Germany;  for  I  had  learned  of 
the  village  priest  to  sing  a  few  of  the  church 
hymns.  When  Paul  (for  that  wTas  my  cousin's 
name)  was  ready  to  go  on  his  way,  my  uncle 
gave  me  a  gulden,  [sixty-three  cents,]  which  I 
put  into  the  hands  of  Paul.  I  must  promise  that 
I  would  do  the  begging,  and  give  what  I  got  to 
him,  my  bacchant,  [protector,]  for  his  disposal. 
We  journeyed  to  Zurich,  where  Paul  would  wait 
till  he  should  be  joined  by  some  companions. 
Then  we  determined  to  set  out  for  Misnia,  [in  the 
present  kingdom  of  Saxony.]  Meanwhile  I  went 
a-begging,  and  thus  furnished  the  sustentation  of 
Paul.  After  tarrying  eight  or  nine  weeks,  wTe  left 
Zurich  and  went  on  our  way  to  Misnia,  in  a  com- 
pany  of  eight,  whereof  three  of  us  were  young 
schiitze,  [wards  ;]  the  rest  were  large  bacchantes, 
as  they  are  called.  Of  all  the  wards  I  was  the 
youngest.  When  I  was  so  weary  that  1  could 
hardly  go,  my  cousin  Paul  would  go  behind  me 
and  scourge  me  on  my  bare  legs,  for  I  had  no 
hose  and  only  poor  shoes.  While  on  the  way,  I 
heard  the  bacchantes  tell  how  that  in  Misnia  and 
Silesia  the  scholars  wort;  wont  to  steal  geese  and 
ducks  and  other  things  for  food,  and  that  no  other 
notice  was  taken  thereof,  if  one  could  but  only 


28  LIFE   OF    LUTHER.  [1483-1497. 

escape  from  the  owners.  Then  said  I  to  my 
companions,  '  When  shall  we  come  to  Misnia, 
where  I  may  go  out  stealing  geese  ?'  They  re- 
plied, '  We  are  already  there.' We  went 

to  Halle  in  Saxony,  and  there  we  joined  our- 
selves to  the  school  of  St.  Ulrich.  But  as  our 
bacchantes  entreated  us  roughly,  some  of  us  com- 
muned on  the  matter  with  my  cousin  Paul,  and 
we  agreed  together  that  we  would  run  away  from 
them,  and  depart  to  Dresden.  Here  we  found 
no  good  school,  and  the  houses,  moreover,  were 
infested  with  vermin.  Wherefore  we  went  from 
that  place  to  Breslau.  We  suffered  much  in  the 
way  from  hunger,  having  on  certain  days  nothing 
to  eat  but  raw  onions  with  salt.  We  slept  often- 
times in  the  open  air,  because  we  could  not  get 
an  entrance  into  the  houses,  but  were  driven  off, 
and  sometimes  the  dogs  were  set  upon  us.  When 
we  came  to  Breslau  we  found  abundant  stores, 
and  food  was  so  cheap  that  some  of  our  company 
surfeited  themselves  and  fell  sick.  We  went  at 
the  first  into  the  school  at  the  dome  [cathedral] 
of  the  Holy  Cross ;  but  learning  that  there  were 
some  Switzer  youth  in  the  parish  of  St.  Elizabeth, 
we  removed  thither.  The  city  of  Breslau  hath 
seven  parishes,  with  a  school  in  each.  No  scholar 
is  suffered  to  go  around  singing  in  another  parish ; 
and  if  any  one  taketh  upon  him  to  do  so,  he  getteth 
a  round  beating.  Sometimes,  it  is  said,  sundry 
thousands  of  scholars  are  found  in  Breslau,  who 
get  their  living  by  begging.  Some  bacchantes 
;il>i<le  in  the  schools  twenty  and  even  thirty  years, 
having  their  sustentation  from  what  their  wards 


M.  1-13.]  AT  SCHOOL  AT  MANSFELD.  29 

beg.  I  have  oftentimes  borne  five  or  six  loads 
home  to  the  school  the  selfsame  evening  for  my 
bacchantes;  for,  being  small,  and  a  Switzer  be- 
sides, I  was  kindly  received  by  the  people.  .  .  . 
In  the  winter,  the  small  boys  were  wont  to  sleep 
on  the  floor  of  the  school-house,  the  bacchantes  in 
the  mean  season  sleeping  in  the  cells,  whereof 
there  are  not  a  few  hundreds  at  the  school  of  St. 
Elizabeth.  In  the  warm  parts  of  the  year,  we 
were  wont  to  lie  on  the  ground  in  the  church- 
yard ;  and  when  it  rained,  to  run  into  the  school- 
house,  and,  if  it  stormed  vehemently,  to  sing  re- 
sponses and  other  pieces  the  whole  night  with 
the  sub-chanter.  Oftentimes  after  supper,  in  the 
summer  evenings,  did  we  go  into  the  beer-houses 
to  buy  beer,  and  sometimes  would  drink  so  much 
that  we  could  hot  find  our  way  back.  To  be  short, 
there  was  plenty  of  food,  but  not  much  studying 
here.  At  St.  Elizabeth's,  nine  bachelors  did  teach 
every  day,  one  hour  each  in  the  selfsame  room. 
The  Greek  tongue  was  not  studied  at  all.  No 
printed  books  did  the  students  have  of  their  own. 
The  preceptor  alone  had  an  imprinted  Terence. 
What  should  be  read  was  at  the  first  dictated 
and  copied,  and  then  construed  and  explicated,  so 
that  the  bacchantes  bore  away  great  heaps  of 
manuscripts." 

It  was  from  such  strolling  bacchantes  as  are  here 
portrayed  to  the  life  by  Platter,  that  the  assistant 
teachers  were  taken,  who  assumed  the  name  of 
locati  (located  or  selected)  when  they  obtained  a 
place.     Their  education  consisted  of  a  knowledge 

of  the  church  service,  of  church  music,  of  a  little 

8* 


30  LIFE   OF  LUTHER.  [1483-1  107 

Latin,  and  of  writing  and  arithmetic.  Their  cha- 
racter corresponded  to  that  of  the  church  at  large 
in  that  rude  and  licentious  age.  They  were,  for 
the  most  part,  mere  adventurers  and  vagabonds, 
neither  loving  nor  understanding  the  art  of  teaching 
any  better  than  they  did  the  nature  of  true  reli- 
gion, whose  servants  they  professed  to  be.  They 
remained  but  a  short  time  in  a  place,  never  pre- 
tended to  study  the  character  and  disposition  of 
their  pupils,  taught  mechanically,  and  ruled  not 
by  affection  but  by  brute  and  brutal  force.  The 
greater  part  of  what  they  taught  was  nearly  use- 
less.    Study  was  a  mere  exercise  of  the  memory. 

The  school  at  Mansfeld  was  no  exception  to  the 
general  character  of  the  schools  in  the  smaller 
towns  at  that  time.  We  are  not  left  to  conjecture 
whether  Luther  was  familiar  with  such  scenes  as 
have  been  alluded  to.  Speaking,  at  a  later  period 
of  life,  on  the  duty  of  maintaining  good  public 
schools,  he  says,  somewhat  indignantly  :  "  Such 
towns  as  will  not  have  good  teachers,  now  that 
they  can  be  gotten,  ought,  as  formerly,  to  have 
locati  and  bacchantes,  stupid  asses,  who  cost  money 
enough  and  yet  teach  their  pupils  nothing  save  to 
become  asses  like  themselves."  "Not  a  single 
branch  of  study,"  says  he,  in  another  place,  "was 
.if  that  time  taught  as  it  should  be."  Referring 
to  their  brutality,  he  says,  "When  they  could  not 
vent  their  spleen  against  the  higher  teachers,  they 
would  pour  it  out  upon  the  poor  boys." 

In  respect  to  the  studies  of  Luther  at  Mansfeld, 
which  continued  up  to  his  fourteenth  year,  Mathe- 
sius,  his  intimate  friend,  says  he  learned  there 


2E.  1-13.]  AT   SCHOOL   AT   MANSFELD.  81 

"  his  Ten  Commandments,  the  Apostles'  Creed,  the 
Lord's  Prayer,  Donatus,  the  Child's  Grammar, 
Cisio  Janus,  and  church  music."  Donatus  was  to 
the  Latin  grammar  of  the  Middle  Ages  what  Mur- 
ray has  been  to  English  grammar.  Cisio  Janus 
are  the  first  words  of  a  church  calendar  in  monk- 
ish Latin  verse,  made  up  of  mutilated  words,  cisio 
standing  for  circumcisio,  (circumcision.)  Next  to 
monastic  works,  Terence  and  Plautus,  the  two  Ro- 
man comedians,  were  most  studied,  as  they  fur- 
nished the  readiest  means  of  learning  the  colloquial 
Latin,  so  important  to  the  clergy  at  that  time. 

Luther  laments  that  he  had  not,  in  those  schools 
which  he  attended  in  his  boyhood,  "  read  the  poets 
and  historians,  which  no  one  taught  him"  instead 
of  which  he  "  learned  with  great  labour  what  with 
equal  labour  he  now  had  to  unlearn."  "  Is  it  not 
plain,"  he  somewhere  says,  "that  one  can  now 
teach  a  boy  in  three  years,  by  the  time  he  is  fifteen 
or  eighteen  years  old,  more  than  was  aforetime 
learned  in  all  the  universities  and  cloisters? 
Twenty,  yea  forty  years  have  men  studied,  and 
yet  known  neither. Latin  nor  German,  not  to  men- 
tion the  scandalous  lives  which  the  youth  there 
learned  to  lead."  "It  was  pitiful  enough  for  a 
boy  to  spend  many  years  only  to  learn  bad  Latin 
sufficient  for  becoming  a  priest  and  for  saying- 
mass,  and  then  be  pronounced  happy,  and  happy, 
too,  the  mother  who  bore  him."  "And  he  is  still 
a  poor  ignorant  creature — can  neither  cluck  nor 
lay  eggs ;  and  yet  such  are  the  teachers  which  we 
have  everywhere  had." 

It  is  impossible  to  read  these  and  other  similar 


32  LIFE   OF    LUTHER.  [1483-1497. 

passages  of  Luther,  so  full  of  reminiscences  of  his 
boyhood,  and  compare  them  with  the  account  of 
Platter's  boyhood  about  the  same  time,  without  a 
strong  conviction  that  they  both  describe  very 
similar  scenes,  and  that  the  one  writer  serves  but 
to  illustrate  the  other.  What  effort  must  it  have 
cost  Luther,  under  so  great  disadvantages,  to  learn 
what  he  did!  Without  uncommon  abilities  and 
perseverance,  it  would  have  been  impossible. 


SECTION  V. — Luther's  Religious  Education. 

This  is  one  of  the  most  important  and  yet  most 
difficult  of  all  the  inquiries  to  be  instituted  respect- 
ing the  history  of  the  great  Reformer.  His  cha- 
racter was  formed  under  a  variety  of  influences, 
each  of  which  deserves  particular  notice.  He  was 
educated  in  the  bosom  of  the  Catholic  church — 
the  church  as  it  was  in  Germany — the  church  as 
it  was  in  Thuringia.  He  was  furthermore  influ- 
enced by  the  personal  character  of  his  parents, 
their  social  relations  in  Mansfeld,  and  the  charac- 
ter of  his  teachers  and  associates  at  Mansfeld, 
Magdeburg,  Eisenach  and  Erfurt.  On  most  of 
these  points  some  valuable  information  has,  by  the 
researches  of  Jiirgens,  been  placed  within  our  reach. 

He  was  educated  in  the  Papal  church  as  it  was 
about  the  close  of  the  fifteenth  century.  And 
what  were  its  characteristic  features  at  that  time  ? 
The  writings  of  Luther  contain  the  answer.  This 
is  not  the  place  to  enter  at  large  upon  a  descrip- 
tion of  the  Papal  church,  partly  because  the  sub- 
ject is  not  novel,  or  unknown  to  the  reader,  and 


M.  1-13.]  RELIGIOUS   EDUCATION.  33 

partly  because  it  must  necessarily  be  interwoven 
with  all  the  narration  of  Luther's  life.  If,  instead 
of  bringing  together  what  Luther  and  other  wri- 
ters  of  that  age  have  left  recorded  on  this  point, 
we  were  to  present  an  analysis  of  their  testimony, 
we  should  find  that  nearly  all  their  statements 
could  be  reduced  to  the  following  summary:  The 
Papal  religion  is  a  religion  of  law  rather  than  of 
gospel;  a  Pelagian  system  of  works  rather  than 
of  divine  grace;  a  religion  of  forms  more  than  of 
spiritual  life;  a  religion  of  human  rather  than  of 
divine  mediation,  priests  and  saints  occupying  the 
place  belonging  to  our  great  High-priest  and  Sa- 
viour; a  religion  prescribed  by  the  Papal  hierar- 
chy rather  than  by  the  Bible ;  a  religion  in  which 
the  sanctity  of  ceremonies  and  of  the  sacred  orders 
prevailed  over  the  sanctity  of  the  heart  and  life ; 
a  religion  of  the  senses  and  of  a  poetical  imagina- 
tion rather  than  of  saving  faith;  and,  in  tine,  a  re- 
ligion founded  more  on  the  ignorance  and  super- 
stition of  the  Middle  Ages  than  on  the  revelation 
of  the  truth  by  Jesus  Christ  and  his  apostles. 

Luther  was  educated  in  the  Papal  church  as  it 
was  in  Germany.  But  what  distinguished  the 
church  in  Germany  from  that  of  the  other  nations 
of  Europe,  and  particularly  from  that  of  Italy? 

With  the  lower  and  middling  classes  in  Ger- 
many, religion  was,  comparatively,  though  less 
than  it  should  be,  a  matter  of  deep  and  sincere 
interest.  AVith  tin;  Italian,  it  was  a  holiday 
amusement,  merely  sanctifying,  by  solemn  cere- 
monies, a  worldly  and  not  unfrequently  an  unbe- 
lieving spirit.     The  German  was  superstitious,  but 


34  LIFE   OF    LUTHER.  [1483-1407. 

was  at  the  same  time  sincere  and  earnest.  The 
piety  of  the  Italian  was  frivolous  and  superficial ; 
that  of  the  German  was  serious  and  went  to  the 
heart.  In  the  soul  of  the  latter  were  deep  foun- 
tains, but  superstition  and  ignorance  rendered 
their  waters  dark  and  turbid.  That  so  many 
were  found  in  Germany  to  embrace  cordially  the 
evangelical  views  of  religion  as  soon  as  they  were 
presented  by  Luther  and  his  associates,  proves 
that  there  was  already,  though  smothered  by  the 
weight  of  rubbish  that  lay  upon  it,  much  of  sin- 
cere devotional  sentiment.  We  cannot  reasonably 
suppose  that  all,  or  even  the  majority  of  the  early 
followers  of  Luther  were  converted  to  Christ  by 
his  preaching  and  writings.  That  which  distin- 
guished Germany  from  the  rest  of  Christendom, 
therefore,  was  the  amount  of  spiritual  nourish- 
ment drawn  from  the  teachings  of  the  church,  de- 
fective as  they  were.  The  flowers  were  no  more 
plentiful  here  than  in  other  countries,  but  the  bees 
nevertheless  gathered  more  honey.  Of  this  we 
have  an  example  in  the  mother  of  Luther;  and 
she  was  but  one  of  many. 

Luther  was  educated  under  that  peculiar  type 
of  religion  which  prevailed  in  Thuringia.  Here  it 
was  that  Boniface,  the  Apostle  of  Germany,  in  the 
eighth  century,  with  other  missionaries  from  the 
British  islands,  carried  on  their  most  important 
operations  for  evangelizing  Germany,  founding 
there  the  Papal  church,  and  thus  corrupting  Chris- 
tianity at  its  very  introduction.  Here  was  the 
greal  cloister  of  Fulda,  the  chief  seminary  of 
sacred  learning,  and  the  centre  of  religious  influ- 


M.  1-13.]  RELIGIOUS   EDUCATION.  35 

ence  for  the  surrounding  country.  It  was  in 
Thuringia  that  St.  Elizabeth — the  Thuringian  land- 
gravine, whose  memory  lived  in  popular  legends 
till  Luther's  times,  and  who  was  a  favourite  saint 
Avitli  him — was  the  embodiment  of  the  religious 
spirit  of  the  people,  a  spirit  of  deep  sincerity 
united  with  childish  simplicity  and  superstition. 
The  Thuringians  are  proverbially  an  honest  and 
simple-hearted  people.  Luther's  mother  appears 
to  have  been  of  this  character;  possessing,  per- 
haps, more  earnestness  in  matters  of  religion,  but 
not  less  superstition,  than  others.  His  father  was 
also  a  genuine  Thuringian  of  the  better  sort. 

Either  because  Luther  sympathized  more  readily 
with  the  warm  and  credulous  piety  of  the  mother 
than  with  the  more  sober  and  discriminating  piety 
of  the  father,  or  because  he  was,  in  early  life, 
more  under  the  influence  of  the  former,  and  of 
priests  and  monks  who  strengthened  her  influ- 
ence, he  eagerly  imbibed  the  popular  religious 
sentiments  of  his  neighbourhood.  At  Mansfeld, 
in  particular,  the  religious  views  here  described 
prevailed.  As  late  as  1507,  one  of  the  Counts  of 
Mansfeld  made  a  pilgrimage  to  Jerusalem.  Two 
countesses  of  the  same  family  were  in  the  nunnery 
at  Eisleben  during  nearly  all  the  period  that  Lu- 
ther remained  at  home  with  his  parents.  The 
cloister  of  Mansfeld,  about  two  miles  east  of  the 
town,  was  supposed  to  be  the  scene  of  several 
miracles  wrought  by  St.  Elizabeth,  with  all  of 
w  hich  Luther  was  necessarily  very  familiar  in  his 
boyhood. 

The  account  of  the  Papal  church  in  Thuringia, 


36  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1483-1497. 

given  by  Myconius,  who  was  preacher  at  Gotha, 
perfectly  agrees  with  what  has  here  been  said  on 
other  authorities,  as  do  also  the  many  incidental 
notices  of  it  by  Luther  in  his  writings.  There 
can  be  no  doubt,  therefore,  that  we  have  before 
us  a  true  description  of  the  religious  influence 
under  which  Luther  spent  his  childhood.  We 
also  know  that  his  susceptible  mind  yielded  itself 
like  wax  to  receive  the  impressions  which  his 
mother  and  his  religious  teachers  attempted  to 
make.  The  unsuspecting  and  confiding  simplicity 
of  his  character  must  be  constantly  borne  in  mind, 
if  we  would  rightly  interpret  his  actions  and 
understand  his  history.  He  himself  was  fully 
aware  of  it,  and  said  it  was  the  cause  of  many 
blunders.  He  was,  even  in  1517,  simple-hearted 
enough  to  believe  that  the  church,  and  the  pope 
himself,  would  consent  to  reform. 

To  Albert  of  Mainz  and  other  bishops  he  wrote 
with  confidence,  not  doubting  that  they  would 
readily  correct  the  abuses  of  which  he  complained. 
How  long  did  he  deceive  himself  with  the  vain 
hope  that  a  union  with  the  Papal  church  might 
still  be  effected  ?  Those  who  regard  Luther  as  a 
sort  of  Gregory  VII.,  bringing  about  the  greatest 
results  by  a  well-planned  scheme,  utterly  mistake 
his  character.  He  was  not  a  man  of  policy  or 
calculation,  but  a  true-hearted,  conscientious  man, 
a  man  of  principle,  whose  great  power  consisted 
in  doing  right  without  regard  to  consequences. 
He  himself  says,  "  I  once  thought  all  that  came 
unto  me,  professing  to  have  a  regard  for  the 
gospel,   were    godly  men;   but  the  knaves   have 


JE.  1-13.]  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION.  37 

taught  me  to  be  wise.  A  fish  is  never  more  in 
his  place  than  when  in  the  water,  nor  a  knave  than 
when  on  the  gallows."  "I  have  become  a  wise 
Rupert,  as  the  proverb  is." 

Of  a  part  of  his  religious  education,  he  after- 
wards speaks  with  approbation;  but  of  the  rest, 
far  otherwise.  These  are  his  words:  "In  the 
house  or  church  of  the  pope  was  I  baptized;  and 
there  did  I  learn  the  catechism  and  the  Bible.  .  .  . 
I  will  hold  my  father's  house  in  great  honour,  and 
mil  prostrate  before  it,  if  it  will  but  leave  me  my 
Christ  and  my  conscience  without  a  burden."  "I 
cannot  set  forth  in  a  better  or  simpler  way  what 
one  should  believe,  do,  leave  undone,  or  know  in 
religion,  than  hath  been  done  from  the  beginning  in 
these  three  pieces,  to  wit,  the  ten  commandments, 
the  creed,  and  the  Lord's  prayer.  .  .  .  But  these 
ought  not  to  be  taught  as  they  tvere  in  time  past,  by 
making  them  stick  only  in  the  memory."  "  This 
only  was  taught  and  practised,  to  wit,  the  invok- 
ing of  the  Virgin  Mary  and  other  saints,  as  medi- 
ators and  intercessors  ;  much  fasting  and  praying  ; 
making  pilgrimages,  or  running. into  monasteries; 
the  becoming  a  monk,  or  the  establishing  of  mass 
to  be  held  at  certain  times.  And  while  Ave  were 
doing  such-like  things,  we  dreamed  we  were  merit- 
ing heaven.  Those  were  the  times  of  darkness, 
when  we  knew  nothing  at  all  of  God's  word,  but, 
with  our  own  mummery  and  dreamy  cogitations, 
plunged  ourselves  and  others  into  misery.  Whereof 
I  was  one,  and  was  myself  bathed  in  this  hot-bat  li 
of  sweat  and  agony." 

These  expressions,  referring  to  his  own  experi- 
4 


38  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1483-1407. 

ence,  though  they  apply  with  chief  force  to  his 
monastic  life,  run  back  also  to  those  earlier  teach- 
ings and  impressions  which  conducted  him  to  the 
monastery.  "  From  my  childhood  up,"  he  says 
still  more  explicitly,  "I  was  trained  after  such  a 
sort  as  to  turn  pale  with  terror  when  I  heard  so 
much  as  the  name  of  Christ,  for  I  was  not  other- 
wise taught  than  to  think  of  him  as  a  severe  and 
angry  judge,  who  would  deal  with  me  according 
to  my  merits  and  works.  Wherefore,  I  was  wont 
all  the  time  to  think  how  I  might  set  forth  many 
good  works,  with  which  to  pacify  Christ,  my 
judge."  In  his  commentary  on  the  words — 
"  Serve  the  Lord  with  fear,  and  rejoice  with 
trembling,"  in  the  second  Psalm,  he  remarks, 
"  When  I  was  a  child  I  was  angry  at  these  words, 
in  that  I  did  not  then  know  that  joy  and  hope 
should  be  coupled  with  fear."  "  We  were  scan- 
dalously led  astray  in  the  papacy;  for  Christ  was 
not  painted  out  in  so  mild  a  character  as  he  is  by 
the  prophets  and  apostles."  "We  were  all  taught 
that  we  must  ourselves  make  satisfaction  for  our 
sins,  and  that,  at  the  judgment,  Christ  would  call 
us  to  an  account  in  respect  of  our  penances,  and 
the  amount  of  our  good  works.  .  .  .  And  because 
we  could  never  do  penances  and  works  enough, 
and  felt  nothing  else  but  terrors  and  fears  before 
his  wrath,  we  were  directed  to  the  saints  in  hea- 
ven, as  them  that  should  be  mediators  between 
in  and  Christ.  We  were  taught  to  call  upon  the 
mother  of  Christ,  that  she  would  beseech  him,  by 
the  breasts  wherewith  she  nursed  him,  to  put 
away  his  anger,  and  show  mercy.     If  she  were 


M.  1-13.]  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION.  39 

not  sufficient,  then  the  apostles  and  other  saints 
were  to  be  invoked,  till  at  last  we  came  to  saints 
whose  sanctity  was  unknown,  nay,  who  for  the 
greater  part  never  existed,  as  St.  Anne,  St.  Bar- 
bara, St.  Christopher,  St.  George,  and  such  like." 
"  I  had  none  other  knowledge  of  Christ,  than  to 
form  him  in  my  mind  as  sitting  on  a  rainbow, 
and  to  account  him  as  a  rigorous  judge.  For  that 
we  had  no  true  knowledge  of  Christ,  we  fell  away 
from  him,  and  cleaved  to  the  saints,  and  called  on 
them  to  be  our  patrons  and  mediators."  "  Espe- 
cially had  we  recourse  to  Mary,  and  prayed,  say- 
ing, '  0  thou  holy  Virgin  Mary,  show7  thy  breasts 
to  Jesus  Christ,  thy  son,  and  procure  for  me  favour 
in  his  sight.' ':  Luther  speaks  of  himself  as  hav- 
ing a  predisposition  to  an  ascetic,  religious  life. 
"  I  wTas  so  framed  by  nature,  and  so  trained  up 
in  the  Papal  church,  that  I  loved  to  fist,  watch, 
pray,  and  accomplish  pilgrimages  and  other  good 
works,  to  the  end  that  I  might  make  recompense 
for  my  sins."  He  says,  that  these  ideas  clung  to 
him  long  after  he  had  renounced  the  doctrine,  for 
"  this  is  an  inbred  corruption,  whereunto  is  super- 
added education  and  custom,  insomuch  that  we  are 
not  only  born  into  superstition,  but,  in  the  papacy, 
are  instructed  and  exercised  in  it." 

Of  the  character  of  the  preaching  he  heard  he 
speaks  thus:  "The  monks  preached  daily  their 
new  visions,  dreams  and  fantasies,  new  wonders 
and  talcs,  and  that  without  measure.  Not  a  monk 
if  he  had  preached  twro  or  three  years,  but  he 
must  needs  make  a  new  sermon  book,  which  for 
a   season  would   reign   in  the   pulpit.     Of  such 


40  LIFE   OF  LUTHER.  [1483-1407. 

books  the  world  was  full,  and  yet  was  therein 
nothing  of  Christ  and  of  faith,  nothing  else  but 
our  works,  merits  and  worshippings,  with  abun- 
dance of  false  and  scandalous  tales.  When 
therein  they  did  their  very  best,  it  pertained  to 
supplicating  saints,  those  of  their  own  order  not 
1  icing  forgotten,  till  they  went  so  far  as  to  portray 
before  all  the  world  the  holy  and  excellent  per- 
son, the  Virgin  Mary,  as  an  intercessor  for  poor 
sinners  even  against  her  son,  Christ.  For  we  all 
know,  and  I  as  well  as  the  rest,  that  we  were 
taught  to  put  Mary  in  the  stead  and  in  the  office 
of  Christ.  .  .  No  monk  dreamed  any  thing,  but  it 
must  needs  come  into  the  pulpit,  and  be  made  a 
matter  of  divine  service.  No  falsehood  so  shame- 
ful which  would  not  be  received,  if  it  was  but 
brought  into  the  pulpit.  ...  Is  it  not  true?  Have 
we  not,  alas!  all  had  /rial  and  experience  thereof 7" 

As  children  were  ordinarily  confirmed  at  the 
age  of  twelve,  and  brought  at  once  to  the  confes- 
sional as  preparatory  to  the  supper,  Luther's  last 
two  years  at  Mansfeld  were  undoubtedly  imbit- 
tered  with  those  superstitious  fears  and  penances 
of  which  he  afterward  complained.  While  he 
was  taught  that  baptism  took  away  original  sin, 
he  was  told  that  subsequent  transgressions  ex- 
tinguished that  grace,  and  that  he  must  regain 
his  former  state  by  penances  and  satisfactions. 
He  says,  on  this  point,  "  As  soon  as  we  had  laid 
aside  our  infantile  socks,  and  were  scarcely  out 
of  the  lavcr  of  regeneration,  they  took  it  all  away 
again  by  such  teaching  as  this,  to  wit,  t  Oh!  thou 
hast  long  since  lost  thy  baptism,  and  polluted  thy 


M.  1-13.]  RELIGIOUS   EDUCATION.  41 

baptismal  robe  with  sin.  Now  thou  must  con- 
sider how  thou  canst  do  penance  and  make  satis- 
faction, .  .  .  till  thou  dost  pacify  God  and  come 
again  to  a  state  of  grace.' ':  He  adds  that  he  had 
such  experience  before  he  was  a  monk,  and  that 
"  by  such  thoughts  he  was  driven  to  monasti- 
cism."  From  these,  and  many  other  expressions 
of  his,  it  appears  that  he  was  a  faithful  and  sub- 
missive disciple  in  the  school  of  superstition  in 
which  he  was  so  diligently  trained. 

When  Luther  was  a  boy,  the  common  belief  in 
witches  was  at  its  height.  Of  the  very  celebrated 
work  entitled  "The  Maul  for  Witches,"  (Malleus 
Maleficarum,)  teaching  priests  and  magistrates 
what  rules  to  observe  in  their  proceedings  against 
witches,  and  circulated  with  both  the  papal  and 
imperial  sanction,  three  editions  were  printed 
while  Luther  was  a  boy,  and  was  in  his  father's 
house  at  Mansfeld.  He  tells  a  story  of  a  witch 
that  lived  near  by,  and  used  to  trouble  his  mother 
very  much ;  another,  of  an  attempt  of  the  devil, 
in  human  form,  to  separate  husband  and  wife; 
and  another  still,  of  an  instance  where  the  devil 
actually  entered  the  pulpit  and  preached  for  a 
minister.  Some  of  these  stories  he  seems  to  be- 
lieve, others  he  ridicules.  "  I  myself,"  he  ob- 
serves, "have  seen  monks,  shameless  and  wicked 
fellows,  who  feigned  to  cast  out  the  devil,  and 
then  to  sport  with  him  as  with  ;i  child.  Who 
can  recount  all  their  crafty  tricks  done  in  the 
name  of  Christ,  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  of  the  holy 
cioss,  of  St.  Cyriac?" 

Though  Luther  afterward  became  much  nun*; 
i 


42  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1483-1407. 

enlightened  on  these  subjects,  still  the  supersti- 
tions in  which  he  was  educated  in  his  childhood 
clung  to  him  to  the  last.  No  one  is  ignorant  of 
the  story  of  his  inkstand  thrown  at  the  devil  in 
his  cell  in  Erfurt.  Though  it  may  be  an  apocry- 
phal story,  it  still  is  a  true  illustration  of  the  cha- 
racter of  Luther.  We  find  him  afterward  holding 
such  language  as  the  following:  "The  devil  is  all 
about  us,  though  he  often  putteth  on  a  mask.  I 
myself  have  seen  that  he  sometimes  appeareth  as 
if  he  were  a  swine,  and  sometimes  as  a  burning- 
wisp  of  straw."  "  The  devil  often  beguileth  the 
outward  senses,  so  that  men  think  something 
taketh  place  before  them  which  doth  not,  ...  as 
was  the  case  in  Hesse  with  the  child  that,  when 
it  was  not  dead,  the  devil  so  blinded  the  eyes  of 
the  people  that  they  thought  it  to  be  dead.  The 
devil  held  the  child's  breath,  as  he  hath  power  to 
do."  This  is  only  some  of  the  smut  which  ad- 
hered to  Luther  from  the  foul  and  smoky  age  in 
which  he  received  his  birth  and  education.  If  we 
are  free  from  it,  it  is  not  owing  to  any  individual 
superiority  of  our  own,  but  to  the  noonday  light, 
which  never  could  have  existed  but  for  the  dawn 
which  preceded  it.  Luther  and  Bacon  were  among 
those  from  whom  proceeded  the  rays  of  light  which 
streaked  the  east  and  ushered  in  the  day,  before 
which  the  hobgoblins  of  false  religion  and  false 
science  have  fled  away. 

That  Luther,  in  his  boyhood,  was  thoroughly 
initiated  into  the  tastes,  manners  and  habits  of 
the  Illinois,  is  certain.  This  might  be  inferred 
from  the  fact  of  his  being  a  miner's  son  and  living 


M.  1-18.]  RELIGIOUS   EDUCATION.  43 

at  Mansfeld ;  but  we  have  statements  in  respect 
to  his  maturer  life  which  can  be  explained  on  no 
other  supposition.  He  always  treated  miners 
with  particular  attention.  He  was  familiar  with 
nil  their  habits  and  even  their  amusements;  he 
knew  their  songs  and  their  plays,  and  could, 
through  life,  entertain  them  as  few  others  could. 
Mathesius,  in  one  of  his  discourses  on  Luther's 
life,  says,  "To-day  let  us  hear  about  Luther's  love 
and  affection  for  mining  and  to  miners."  The 
council  of  Wittenberg  had  a  festival  which  lasted 
several  clays.  Luther  was  invited  to  attend.  But 
as  he  had  been  the  means  of  doing  away  several 
Catholic  festivals  on  account  of  the  excesses  com- 
mitted at  them,  he  thought  it  imprudent  to  attend, 
and  therefore  declined  the  invitation.  The  young 
people,  according  to  ancient  custom,  went  about 
the  streets  in  masks,  and  sought  admittance  to 
the  houses  of  the  citizens.  "At  one  time,"  con- 
tinues Mathesius,  "some  of  them  came  to  Luther's 
1  louse  or  cloister.  But,  to  avoid  offence  and  scan- 
dal, he  did  not  admit  them  into  his  house.  Albeit, 
at  length,  a  company,  disguised  as  miners,  came 
along,  with  their  mining  hammers  and  a  chess- 
board for  their  amusement.  'Let  them  come  in,' 
said  Luther,  'they  are  my  countiymen,  and  the 
fellow-workmen  of  my  father.  Since  they  pass 
whole  weeks  under  ground  in  a  damp  atmosphere 
;iiid  amid  impure  exhalations,  we  must  allow  them 
proper  recreation.'  They  came,  placed  their  chess- 
board upon  his  table,  and  he  joined  them.  'Now, 
miners,'  said  he,  'whosoever  will  go  into  this  or 
other  deep  shafts  and  come  out  unharmed,  or  not 


44  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1483-1497. 

close  up  the  passage  with  refuse,  must  not  have 
his  eyes  in  his  pocket,  as  the  saying  is.'  Lu- 
ther easily  won  the  game;  and  they  all  remained, 
and,  under  due  restraint,  indulged  in  merriment, 
singing  and  frolicking,  as  our  doctor  wTas  inclined 
to  be  sportive  at  proper  times,  and  was  not  dis- 
pleased when  he  saw  the  young  playful  and  mer- 
ry, if  it  was  but  with  propriety  and  moderation." 
This  discourse  of  Mathesius  is  full  of  anecdotes 
about  Luther's  allusions  to  his  father's  employ- 
ment, and  his  borrowing  illustrations  from  it  in 
his  writings  and  conversations. 

Luther  was  the  son  of  a  j^easant,  that  is,  of  a 
poor  miner  who  sprung  from  the  peasantry.  How 
did  this  circumstance  affect  his  character  ?  It  had 
more  effect  upon  his  language,  habits  and  associa- 
tions than  upon  his  sentiments  and  subsequent 
standing  in  society.  For  as  his  father  became  a 
burgher  and  magistrate,  and  as  he  himself  was  a 
man  of  education,  he  came  to  regard  society  from 
a  higher  point  of  view.  But  born  and  bred  as  he 
was,  he  was  never  adapted  to  court-life.  He  al- 
ways appeared  uneasy  when  speaking  or  writing 
to  princes  or  nobles,  not  out  of  fear,  but  from  a 
consciousness  that  he  was  not  fanuliar  with  the 
modes  of  intercourse  and  of  address  customary 
among  them.  His  language,  though  uncommonly 
rich  and  varied,  and  sparkling  with  sense  and  wit, 
was  often  homely.  His  illustrations  were  often 
drawn  from  common  and  low  life.  A  vein  of  slight 
vulgarity,  as  well  as  drollery,  pervades  all  his  writ- 
ings. 1 1  is  pungent  wit,  his  creative  genius,  and  his 
sterling  sense  follow  him  everywhere.     He  was 


JE.  1-13.]  RELIGIOUS   EDUCATION.  45 

the  man  of  the  people,  knowing  all  their  thoughts 
and  feelings,  and  employing  all  their  words  and 
expressions  in  his  magnificent,  but  still  rude  elo- 
quence. 

But  from  the  flower  of  his  youth,  through  life, 
Luther  was  associated  with  burghers  and  attached 
to  them, — the  middling  class  between  the  nobles 
and  the  peasants, — the  mercantile,  enterprising, 
patriotic  inhabitants  of  the  larger  towns  and 
cities.  To  this  class  he  was  introduced,  partly 
by  his  father's  later  connections  and  partly  by  his 
own  cultivated  practical  sense  and  his  hearty  de- 
votedness  to  the  good  of  all  the  people.  He  was 
never  fond  of  princes  and  nobles ;  nor,  on  the 
other  hand,  of  the  sottish,  blind  and  disorderly 
peasantry.  In  all  his  writings,  he  treats  both 
classes,  a  few  individuals  excepted,  somewhat 
roughly.  He  did  not  depend  on  either  for  carry- 
ing forward  the  Reformation,  but  addressed  him- 
self more  immediately  to  the  magistrates  and  free 
denizens.  He  wished  neither  the  authority  of 
kings  nor  the  violence  of  peasants  to  be  brought 
to  his  aid,  but  preferred  that  these,  no  less  than 
the  middling  classes,  should  be  controlled  by  in- 
telligence and  virtue.  He  uniformly  checked  the 
two  former,  while  he  directed,  stimulated  and 
supported  the  hitter. 

His  position  as  a  man  of  education,  always 
practical,  led  to  the  same  results.  Learning  with 
him  was  not,  as  with  so  many  others,  a  matter  of 
profession,  but  a  source  of  practical  wisdom.  He 
encouraged  and  sympathized  with  men  of  classi- 
cal learning  only  so  far  as  they  aided  in  explain- 


40  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  '[1483-1497. 

ing  the  Scriptures  and  in  enlightening  the  people. 
He  wrote  more  and  better  in  the  language  of  the 
people  than  in  the  language  of  the  learned.  This 
circumstance  strengthened  his  alliance  with  intel- 
ligent, active  and  patriotic  men.  Thus,  when  he 
came  to  act  the  part  of  a  reformer,  he  occupied 
the  central  ground  of  society,  the  point  where 
extremes  meet  and  opposite  influences  neutralize 
each  other. 

With  this  agreed  his  geographical  position. 
Thuringia  is  the  most  German  of  all  the  German 
districts.  The  Saxon  electorate  was  locally  and 
politically  what  Virginia  is  in  the  United  States, 
situated  midway  between  the  north  and  the  south, 
having  the  advantage  of  position  over  either  ex- 
treme. All  Germany  called  Thuringia  its  own. 
It  belonged  to  no  section,  but  was  the  middle 
portion,  often  holding  the  balance  of  power.  In 
the  Middle  Ages,  it  was  neither  the  scholastic 
south,  nor  the  barbarous  north,  but  the  enlight- 
ened, sober,  practical  district  of  Erfurt,  and  yet 
the  chivalrous  vicinity  of  the  Wartburg,  renowned 
in  arms  and  in  song. 

In  language,  too,  it  was  near  the  northern  verge 
of  the  high  German,  and  consequently  not  far 
south  of  the  line  beyond  which  the  low  German 
was  spoken.  Had  Luther  lived  either  north  or 
south  of  Thuringia  and  Saxony,  he  could  not  have 
moulded  the  national  language  as  he  has  done  ; 
nor  have  found  the  wide-spread  sympathy  which 
he  did  find;  nor  have  acted  from  the  heart  of  the 
nation,  out,  to  all  its  extremities. 


JE.  13-21.] 


JOURNEY  TO  MAGDEBURG. 


47 


CHAPTER  II. 

LUTHER  AT  THE  SCHOOLS  OF  MAGDEBURG  AND  EISENACH  AND 
AT  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  ERFURT,  FROM  1497  TO  1505. 

Section  I. — Luther* 's  Journey  from  Mans/eld  to  Magdeburg. 

ITTHER  had  now 
reached  his  four- 
teenth year,  when 
I  the  ordinary  or  tri- 
vial school  of  Mans- 
^feld  no  longer  met 
his  wants.  Hard 
as  his  life  had  thus 
far  been,  a  harder 
lot  awaited  him. 
He  was  to  leave 
the  paternal  roof,  and  go  forth,  young  and  in- 
experienced, to  try  his  fortune  among  stran- 
gers. Without  money  and  without  friends,  he 
was  t<»  commit  himself  to  the  charities  of  mendi- 
cant monks  and  of  the  people  of  a  great  eccle- 
siastical metropolis.  He  did  not,  however,  take 
his  departure  entirely  alone.  He  was  sent  in 
company,  or,  as  Mathesius  intimates,  under  the 
care  of  John  Reineck,  a  fellow-student  of  more 
experience,  the  son  of  a  respectable  citizen  of 
Mansfeld.  This  friendship,  formed  at  the  school, 
lasted  through  life ;  and  it  was  this  same  person 
who  accompanied  Luther  in  his  journey  to  the 


48  JLIFi:    OF   LUTHER.  [1497-1605. 

diet  of  Worms.  Luther  in  his  correspondence 
calls  him  "one  of  his  best  friends,"  and  the -let- 
ters of  Melancthon  to  him  and  to  his  distinguished 
son,  educated  at  Wittenberg,  breathe  the  warmest 
friendship.  Virtuous  and  choice  friendships, 
formed  in  early  life,  are  often  of  far  greater  im- 
portance than  the  young  are  apt  to  suppose. 

Melancthon  says,  the  "  Latin  schools  of  Saxony 
were  then  in  good  repute,"  and  Mathesius  says, 
"the  school  at  Magdeburg  was  more  celebrated 
than  many  others."  Not  far  from  the  south  gate 
of  the  city,  was  the  school  of  the  Brethren  of  the 
Life  in  Common.  Near  this  was  the  celebrated 
cathedral  school,  and  in  the  north-west  part  of  the 
town,  the  school  of  the  Franciscan  monks.  It  was 
to  the  Franciscan  school  that  Luther  and  his  friend 
are  said  to  have  resorted.  As  this  is  the  only  mo- 
nastic school  which  he  attended  in  his  boyhood, 
we  must  suppose  that  he  had  this  particularly  in 
mind  when  he  afterward  wrote  on  the  subject. 

In  1497,  then,  two  boys,  the  one  quite  young 
and  indigent,  the  other  older  and  in  better  cir- 
cumstances, left  their  home  in  a  romantic  town 
on  the  border  of  the  Hartz  Mountains,  and  jour- 
neyed on  foot,  north,  about  fifty  miles,  through  a 
rich  and  level  country  to  the  large  and  fortified 
city  of  Magdeburg,  then  under  the  civil  rule  of 
the  archbishop  and  the  place  of  his  residence. 
The  direct  road  would  lead  them  to  the  west  of 
Hettstedt,  (the  last  considerable  town  in  the 
county  of  Mansfeld,)  to  Aschersleben,  at  which 
point  the  mountains  and  forests  begin  to  disap- 
pear, to  Egeln,  beyond  the  territory  of    Halber- 


M.  13-21.]  JOURNEY  TO  MAGDEBURG.  49 

stadt,  and  within  that  of  Magdeburg,  and  thence 
to  the  place  of  their  destination.  The  mode  of 
travel  was  probably  not  very  different  from  that 
described  by  Platter  above. 

What  an  impression  must  the  scene  now  spread 
before  our  young  traveller's  eye  have  made  upon 
him !  For  the  first  time  in  his  life,  he  finds  him- 
self in  a  large  and  splendid  capital,  with  a  popu- 
lation of  thirty  or  forty  thousand.  Eisleben  was 
the  largest  town  he  had  ever  before  seen.  Mag- 
deburg was  the  seat  of  the  archbishop,  at  that 
time  the  sovereign  of  a  large  territory  on  both 
sides  of  the  Elbe.  Ernest,  then  archbishop, 
brother  of  Frederic  the  Wise,  Elector  of  Saxony, 
was  an  excellent  man,  celebrated  for  the  sim- 
plicity of  his  character,  and  yet  no  less  than 
twelve  trumpeters  must  entertain  him  with  their 
music  when  he  dined.*  And  yet  of  all  the  splen- 
dour of  this  city  Luther  could  enjoy  little.  He 
was  to  be  shut  up  in  the  school-room  of  the 
gloomy  Franciscan  cloister.  The  spirit  of  the 
mendicant  friars  was  to  rule  OA'er  him.  In  a  city 
of  great  intelligence  and  high  culture,  he  was  to 
be  under  the  guidance  of  ignorance  and  supersti- 

*  The  cathedral,  the  first  finished  specimen  of  Gothic  architecture 
in  the  north  of  Germany,  and  the  ('luster  Berg,  had  adorned  the 
city  for  more  than  a  century.  When  it  was  dedicated,  there  'were 
present  a  papal  legate,  seven  archbishops,  six  bishops,  six  abbots, 
three  dukes  of  Saxony,  two  margraves  of  Misnia,  three  dukes  of 
Brunswick,  four  princes  of  Anhalt,  and  many  counts,  lords,  knights, 
nobles,  deputies  from  the  towns  belonging  to  the  see,  ladies  of  rank, 
besides  the  people  of  the  city  and  its  suburbs.  These  and  all  the 
clergy  were  treated  to  a  splendid  repast,  and  then  four  days  were 
spent  in  tournaments  and  other  chivalrous  entertainments  ! 


50  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1497-1505. 

tion,  procuring  his  bread  by  choral  and  other  ser- 
vices in  the  church,  and  by  singing  with  his  com- 
panions, in  their  dark  clerical  robes,  in  the  streets, 
from  door  to  door.  This  is  the  way  in  which  boys 
were  then  accustomed  to  maintain  themselves  in 
the  schools. 

The  Franciscans  wore  a  gray  robe  with  black 
scapularies,  and  were  especially  employed  in  attend- 
ing on  the  sick,  and  in  the  burial  of  the  dead.  The 
boy,  in  whose  heart  was  a  sealed  fountain  of  fer- 
vent and  joyous  passion,  found  nothing  under  his 
new  masters  and  in  his  new  mode  of  life  to  satisfy 
his  internal  wants.  The  few  incidents  which  he 
records,  from  his  recollections  of  this  period,  are 
strikingly  characteristic  of  the  order,  and  indeed 
of  the  church  at  large.  "I  have  seen,"  says  he, 
"with  these  eyes,  in  my  fourteenth  year,  when  I 
was  at  school  in  Magdeburg,  a  Prince  of  Anhalt, 
brother  of  Adolphus,  Bishop  of  Merseburg,  going 
about  the  streets  in  a  cowl,  begging  bread  with  a 
sack  upon  his  shoulders,  like  a  beast  of  burden, 

insomuch  that  he  stooped  to  the  ground He 

had  fasted  and  watched  and  mortified  his  flesh  till 
he  appeared  like  to  an  image  of  death,  with  only 
skin  and  bones,  and  died  soon  after." 

lie  speaks  of  a  painting,  symbolical  of  the 
sentiments  entertained  by  the  church,  seen  by 
him  about  this  time,  and  leaving  a  deep  impres- 
sion upon  his  mind.  "A  great  ship  was  painted, 
likening  the  church,  wherein  there  was  no  layman, 
not  even  a  king  or  prince.  There  were  none  but 
the  pope  with  his  cardinals  and  bishops  in  the 
prow,  with  the  Holy  Ghost  hovering  over  them; 


M.  13-21.] 


JOURNEY   TO    MAGDEBURG. 


51 


the  priests  and  monks  with  their  oars  at  the  side; 
and  t litis  they  were  sailing  on  heavenward.  The 
laymen  were  swimming  along  in  the  water  around 
the  ship.  Some  of  them  were  drowning;  some 
were  drawing  themselves  up  to  the  ship  by  means 
of  ropes,  which  the  monks,  moved  by  pity,  and 
making  over  their  own  good  works,  did  cast  out 
to  them,  to  keep  them  from  drowning,  and  to 
enable  them  to  cleave  to  the  vessel  and  go  with 
the  others  to  heaven.  There  was  no  pope,  nor 
cardinal,  nor  bishop,  nor  priest,  nor  monk  in  the 
water,  but  laymen  only.  This  painting  was  an 
index  and  summary  of  their  doctrine.  ...  I 
was  once  one  of  them,  and  helped  teach  such 
things,  believing  them  and  knowing  no  better." 

We  know  but  little  of  this  Franciscan  school, 
and  of  Luther's  residence  there,  except  that  in 
the  mode  of  instruction  there  was  no  material 
improvement  upon  that  which  he  had  received  at 
Mansfeld;  and  that  his  suffering  from  want  be- 
came so  extreme  that  it  was  no  longer  tolerable, 
and  hence  he  left  the  school  after  one  year's  bitter 
trial,  never  to  see  the  place  again,  till  he  should 
visit  it  in  a  very  different  capacity. 


52  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1497-1505. 


Section  II. — Luther's  Removal  from  Magdeburg  to  Eisenach. 

So  great  were  the  privations  and  sufferings  of 
young  Luther  at  Magdeburg,  that  it  was  decided 
by  his  father  that  he  should  remove  to  Eisenach, 
where  his  maternal  grandparents  and  other  rela- 
tives resided,  and  where  also  there  Avas  a  good 
Latin  school.  It  was  hoped  that  he  would  here 
be  so  far  provided  for  as  to  be  relieved  from  press- 
ing want.  But  parents,  who  themselves  were 
familiar  with  hardships,  would  expect  that  their 
son  should  be  exposed  to  them  also. 

We  can  easily  imagine  with  what  different  feel- 
ings the  boy  performed  the  journey  home,  from 
those  with  which  he  j>assed  over  the  same  ground 
when  he  first  went  abroad  into  the  wide  world. 
After  indulging  in  the  exquisite  pleasures  of  home, 
as  they  are  felt  by  a  boy  on  returning  from  his 
first  absence — for  Mansfeld  was  directly  on  the 
way  to  Eisenach — he  must  have  gone  forth  with 
moderated  and  yet  pleasing  expectations ; — mode- 
rated, because  he  had  taken  one  sad  lesson  in  the 
knowledge  of  the  world ;  and  pleasing,  because 
he  was  about  to  go,  not  among  utter  strangers, 
but  among  the  kindred  of  his  mother.  What 
strange  emotions  would  have  filled  the  breast  of 
the  boy,  had  he  then  had  a  prophetic  vision  of  the 
tragic  events  that  should  take  place  a  quarter  of 
a  century  after,  in  the  places  through  which  he 
was  now  to  pass  !  About  twenty  miles  on  his 
way  from  Mansfeld,  he  might  see  Allstedt,  where 
Muncer  was  to  become  the  leader  in  the  bloody 


M.  13-21.]  REMOVAL   TO  EISENACH.  53 

Peasants'  War.  To  the  west  is  seen  the  river 
Helme,  on  whose  beautiful  banks  is  situated  the 
Golden  Meadow,  (Goldene  Aue,)  extending  more 
than  thirty  miles  to  the  neighbourhood  of  Nord- 
hansen.* 

At  a  distance  of  about  sixteen  miles  from 
Allstedt  is  Frankenhausen,  where  the  decisive 
battle  was  fought,  May  5,  1525,  and  Muncer  and 
his  party  completely  routed.  Still  farther  on, 
toward  Eisenach,  lies  Miihlhausen,  which  was 
the  head-quarters  of  Muncer's  army.     Eisenach 


*  This  tract  of  enchanted  land  extends  nearly  the  whole  distance 
from  Naumburg  to  Nordhausen.  Memleben  on  the  Unstrut,  about 
ten  miles  south  of  Alstedt,  was  the  favourite  residence  of  the  German 
emperors  of  the  Saxon  line.  Here  Matilda,  royal  consort  of  Henry 
the  First,  founded  a  nunnery.  Here,  probably,  Henry  the  Fowler 
was  busying  himself  with  his  falcons  when  it  was  announced  to  him 
that  he  was  chosen  emperor;  and  here,  too,  he  breathed  his  last. 
Here  his  son,  Otto  the  First,  on  his  way  to  the  diet  of  Merseburg, 
passed  the  season  of  Lent,  and  died  immediately  after  the  services. 
A  little  farther  up  the  river,  and  on  the  opposite  side,  is  Rossleben. 
Here  was  an  ancient  nunnery,  afterward  converted  into  an  excellent 
cloister-school  or  gymnasium,  in  which  Ernesti,  Von  Thummel  and 
other  eminent  men  received  their  elementary  education.  Passing 
another  cloister-school,  we  come  to  the  junction  of  the  Helme  and 
Unstrut.  South  is  to  be  seen  the  Palace  of  lleldrungen,  and,  on  the 
summit,  the  ruins  of  Sachsenburg.  Ascending  the  Ilelme,  west  of 
Allstedt,  we  come  to  Wallhauscn,  where  Otto  the  Great  built  a  palace 
and  often  resided,  as  did  his  son  after  him.  In  this  vicinity  the 
German  emperors  loved  to  pass  their  time.  A  little  farther  on, 
beyond  Tilleda,  another  royal  residence,  to  the  left  of  the  Golden 
Meadow,  rises  Kyffhausen  with  Frederic's  tower.  There  are  many 
legends  respecting  Frederic  Barbarossa  and  this  castle.  It  was 
here  that  Henry  the  Sixth  and  Henry  the  Lion  became  reconciled 
to  each  other,  and  checked  for  a  time  the  feuds  between  Guclf  and 
Ghibiline.  West  of  this  is  the  peak  of  Rothenberg,  with  another 
tower,  whose  history  runs  back  to  pagan  times. 


54  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1497-1505. 

lies  about  twenty  miles  south  of  Miihlhausen. 
Between  these  two  places  is  one  of  the  largest  of 
the  five  ranges  of  hills,  which  it  is  necessary  to 
cross  in  taking  this  route.  Just  before  reaching 
Eisenach  we  cross  the  most  southerly  range.  As 
one  enters  the  town  from  the  north,  he  looks 
clown  upon  it,  and  sees  it  lying  before  him  in  a 
valley,  under  the  castle  of  Wartburg  towering  on 
the  right. 

Next  to  Wittenberg  and  Erfurt,  this  is  the 
place  richest  in  historical  recollections  in  respect 
to  Luther.  Here  he  found  the  end  of  his  sorrows 
arising  from  poverty.  Here  he  first  found  sympa- 
thizing and  skilful  teachers,  under  whose  influence 
he  acquired  a  love  of  learning.  Here  his  musical 
talent,  his  taste  and  imagination  were  first  de- 
veloped, throwing  their  cheerful  serenity  over  his 
sorrowful  and  beclouded  mind.  Here,  too,  he 
subsequently  lived  in  his  Patmos,  or  desert,  as  he 
playfully  termed  the  Castle  of  Wartburg,  in  the 
character  of  Squire  George,  and  passed  his  time 
sometimes  in  the  chase  on  the  mountains,  but 
mostly  in  translating  the  New  Testament. 

There  were  in  Eisenach  at  this  time  three 
churches,  to  which  were  attached  as  many  paro- 
chial schools.  Only  one  of  these,  however,  was 
a  Latin  school ;  and  that  was  at  the  church  of  St. 
George,  a  little  east  of  the  centre  of  the  town. 
The  name  of  the  head  master  was  Trebonius,  the 
first  skilful  teacher  under  whose  care  Luther 
came,  and  to  whom  he  felt  a  personal  attachment. 
Though  lie  did  not  belong  to  the  new  school  of 
classical  scholars  trained  in  Italy,  his  Latin  was 


M  13-21.]  REMOVAL   TO   EISENACH.  55 

much  purer  than  that  of  the  monks  and  priests 
generally.  His  personal  character,  too,  though 
perhaps  a  little  eccentric,  was  such  as  to  win  the 
love  of  his  pupils.  In  coining  before  them,  he 
used  to  take  off  his  hat  and  bow  to  them,  and 
complained  that  his  assistants  were  disinclined  to 
do  likewise.  He  said,  with  truth,  and  with  a 
sense  of  responsibility  which  showed  that  he 
understood  the  true  dignity  of  his  office,  "among 
these  boys  are  burgomasters,  chancellors,  doctors 
and  magistrates."  Though  he  is  called  a  poet, 
that  is  a  writer  of  Latin  verses,  we  must  remem- 
ber that  this  was  a  trivial  school,  and  that  but 
little  more  than  Latin  hymns  and  prayers  were 
read ;  and  that  it  excelled  other  schools  only  by 
having  a  better  method,  by  employing  in  conver- 
sation a  purer  Latin,  and  by  having  exercises  in 
Latin  verse.  It  is  a  mistake  to  suppose  that 
Luther  studied  Greek  here,  or  even  such  Latin 
authors  as  Cicero,  Virgil  and  Livy.  He  com- 
menced the  study  of  the  latter  in  Erfurt,  and  the 
former  at  a  much  later  period  in  Wittenberg  as 
professor.  The  following  is  Melancthon's  account 
of  Luther's  studies  at  Eisenach:  "After  leaving 
Magdeburg,  he  attended  in  the  school  at  Eisenach 
four  years  on  the  instructions  of  a  teacher  who 
taught  him  grammar  (Latin)  better  than  it  was 
elsewhere  taught.  For  I  remember  how  Luther 
commended  his  talents.  He  was  sent  thither 
because  his  mother  was  descended  from  an  hon- 
ourable and  ancient  family  of  that  town.  Here 
lie  became  master  of  grammar;  and,  because  of 
his  superior  understanding  and  natural  aptitude 


56  LIFE   OF    LUTHER.  [1497-1505. 

for  eloquence,  he  made  more  proficiency,  and 
easily  excelled  his  fellow-pupils,  both  in  his 
powers  of  speech  and  in  writing  prose  and  verse." 
Here  is  the  first  intimation  we  have  of  the  mani- 
festation of  those  remarkable  powers  which  distin- 
guished him  in  after-life.  His  teacher  undoubtedly 
knew  how  to  draw  out  of  him  what  had  hitherto 
been  suffered  to  lie  dormant.  Perhaps,  too,  this 
was  the  time  in  life  when  his  mind  came,  by  the 
course  of  nature,  to  develop  itself.  At  such  a 
crisis,  the  value  of  a  wise  and  genial  instructor  is 
inestimable.  It  is  precisely  when  the  corn  is 
shooting  most  rapidly  from  the  earth  that  the 
weeds  should  be  subdued,  so  that  all  the  strength 
of  the  soil  may  be  given  to  the  growth  of  the 
future  harvest. 

Luther,  who  had  been  driven  from  Magdeburg 
by  poverty,  removed  to  Eisenach  in  hopes  of 
sympathy  and  support  from  his  relatives  in  that 
place.  In  this  his  hopes  were  disappointed.  He 
was  still  compelled  to  beg  his  bread,  singing  in  a 
choir  from  door  to  door.  His  sufferings  appear  to 
have  been  even  greater  here  than  in  Magdeburg. 
No  doubt,  the  early  indigence  of  Luther,  and  the 
fact  of  his  feeling  that  he  was  thrown  back  upon 
his  own  resources,  contributed  to  the  strength  of 
his  character.  He  probably  had  his  own  case  in 
view  when  he  said,  "The  young  should  learn 
especially  to  endure  suffering  and  want ;  for  such 
suffering  doth  them  no  harm.  It  cloth  more  harm 
for  one  to  prosper  without  toil  than  it  doth  to 
endure  suffering."  "It  is  God's  way,  of  beggars 
t<>  make  men  of  power,  just  as  he  made  the  world 


M.  13-21.]  REMOVAL  TO  EISENACH.  57 

out  of  nothing.  Look  upon  the  courts  of  kings 
and  princes,  upon  cities  and  parishes.  You  will 
there  find  jurists,  doctors,  counsellors,  secretaries 
and  preachers,  who  were  commonly  poor,  and 
alway  such  as  have  been  students,  and  have 
risen  and  flown  so  high  through  the  quill,  that 
they  are  become  lords."  "I  have  been  a  beggar 
of  crumbs,  and  have  taken  my  bread  at  the  door, 
especially  in  Eisenach,  my  favourite  town,  although 
afterward  my  dear  father  with  all  love  and  fidelity 
sustained  me  at  school  in  Erfurt,  and  by  his  sweat 
and  hard  labour  helped  me  to  that  whereunto  I 
have  attained.  Nevertheless  I  have  been  a  beg- 
gar of  bread,  and  have  prospered  so  far  forth  with 
the  pen,  that  I  would  not  exchange  my  art  for  all 
the  wealth  of  the  Turkish  empire.  Nay,  I  would 
not  exchange  it  for  all  the  wealth  of  the  world 
many  times  over.  And  yet  I  should  not  have 
attained  thereunto,  had  I  not  gone  to  school,  and 
given  myself  to  the  business  of  writing.  There- 
fore doubt  not  to  put  your  boy  to  study;  and 
if  he  must  needs  beg  his  bread,  you  neverthe- 
less give  unto  God  a  noble  piece  of  timber 
whereof  he  will  carve  a  great  man.  So  it  must 
always  be;  your  son  and  mine,  that  is,  the 
children  of  the  common  people,  must  govern  the 
world  both  in  the  church  and  in  the  common- 
wealth." 

The  pressure  of  poverty,  on  the  other  hand, 
may  be  too  great,  so  as  to  depress  the  spirit 
instead  of  invigorating  it.  Luther  is  represented 
as  having  verged,  while  at  Eisenach,  to  the  very 
brink  of  despondency,  and  to  have  contemplated 


58  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1497-1505. 

relinquishing  study  altogether,  and  returning  to 
the  occupation  of  his  father. 

It  is  difficult  for  us  to  suppress  speculation  as 
to  what  would  have  been  the  probable  results  of 
such  a  determination, — what  his  influence  upon 
the  destinies  of  mankind,  and  his  place  in  the 
records  of  history.  But  Providence  had  other 
counsels  than  those  the  disheartened  youth  was 
almost  ready  to  adopt;  and  an  event,  in  itself 
trifling,  decided  a  point  on  which  were  suspended 
interests  of  inconceivable  magnitude. 

One  day,  as  he  and  his  companions  were  pass- 
ing through  St.  George  street,  not  far  from  the 
school,  their  carols  were  unheeded,  and,  at  three 
successive  houses,  the  customary  charity  was 
withheld.  With  heavy  hearts  they  passed  on  to 
Conrad  Cotta's  house,  where  they  often  received 
tokens  of  friendly  regard.  Madam  Cotta  had 
conceived  an  affection  for  young  Luther,  from  the 
musical  talents  which  he  had  displayed,  and  from 
the  earnestness  of  his  devotions  at  church.  She 
invited  him  in,  gave  to  him  liberally,  and  after- 
ward received  him  into  her  house.  Though 
probably  not  a  relative  of  his,  as  some  writers 
would  have  us  believe, — he  constantly  called  her 
his  hostess, — she  treated  him  as  a  son,  and  gave 
him  support  till  he  went  to  the  university.  It  is 
pleasant  to  know  that,  though  Madam  Ursula 
<'<>tta  herself  died  in  1511,  Luther,  after  arriving 
at  an  eminence  hardly  second  to  that  of  any  man 
of  the  age,  remembered  the  debt  of  gratitude; 
and  in  the  years  L541  and  1542,  only  a  few  years 
before  his  death,  received  Henry  Cotta,  Ursula's 


M.  13-21.]  REMOVAL  TO   EISENACH.  59 

son,  into  his  house  in  turn,  and  this  act  of  kind- 
ness toward  him  as  a  student  at  Wittenberg  is 
mentioned  in  Cotta's  epitaph  at  Eisenach,  where 
he  died  as  burgomaster. 

The  influence  of  this  connection  upon  Luther's 
mind  could  hardly  be  otherwise  than  favourable. 
Both  his  heart  and  his  intellect  were  rendered 
dark  and  gloomy  by  the  exclusively  monastic 
character  of  his  training.  The  path  of  his  life 
thus  far  had  been  cheerless.  Even  the  music 
which  he  loved,  and  in  which  he  indulged,  was 
mostly  pensive.  Domestic  life  he  had  been 
taught  to  regard  as  impure  and  sinful;  and  to 
the  pleasures  of  a  cheerful  home  of  his  own  he 
was  forbidden,  by  his  monastic  superstition,  to 
look.  "When  I  was  a  boy,"  he  afterward  said, 
"I  imagined  I  could  not  think  of  the  married 
state  without  sin."  In  the  family  of  Cotta,  he 
acquired  other  and  more  correct  views  of  life. 
Here  he  became  sensible  to  the  charms  of  refined 
society.  Not  only  were  the  generous  affections 
strengthened  by  exercise,  but  the  taste  was  culti- 
vated in  that  family  circle.  The  perversions  of 
the  monastic  morality  were  sonic  what  checked, 
though  not  fully  exposed  and  corrected.  Madam 
Cotta  vindicated  the  dignity  and  sanctity  of  mar- 
ried life,  and  taught  Luther  that  his  preconceived 
notions  on  this  subject  were  false.  "My  hostess 
at  Eisenach,"  he  remarked,  "said  truly,  when  I 
was  there  at  school,  'There  is  not  on  earth  any 
thing  more  Lovely  than  an  affection  for  females 
(conjugal  affection)  when  it  is  in  the  fear  of 
God.'" 


60  UTE   OF  LUTHER.  [1497-1505. 

It  was  here  that  Luther  learned  to  play  on  the 
flute.  Some  affirm  that  he  at  this  time  also 
learned  to  compose  music  and  to  touch  the  lute. 
Though  he  speaks  of  his  voice  as  "  slender  and 
indistinct,"  he  had  in  reality  a  fine  alto  voice,  and 
Melancthon  says  "it  could  be  heard  at  a  great 
distance." 

Beneficial  as  were  these  gentle  and  bland  in- 
fluences, and  winning  and  inspiring  as  were  the 
instructions  of  the  head-master  of  the  school, 
Eisenach  itself  was  a  priestly  town,  or,  as  the 
writers  of  that  age  call  it,  "a  nest  of  priests," 
and  all  the  religious  associations  of  the  place  were 
adapted  to  nourish  and  strengthen  the  convictions 
with  which  Luther  had  grown  up.  There  were 
nine  monasteries  and  nunneries  in  and  about  the 
town,  and  an  abundance  of  churches,  priests  and 
chaplains.  There,  too,  lay  the  remains  of  the 
landgrave,  Henry  Raspe,  at  whose  tomb  the  visit- 
ers on  St.  Julian's  day  could  obtain  two  years' 
indulgence. ,  Here  St.  Elizabeth,  that  most  bene- 
volent and  religious  of  the  Thuringian  landgra- 
vines, had  lived  and  laboured  for  the  good  of  the 
poor,  and  monuments  of  her  zealous  but  supersti- 
tious piety  were  everywhere  to  be  seen. 


JE.  13-21.] 


IN   THE   UNIVERSITY. 


61 


SECTION  III. — Luther  in  the  University  of  Erfurt. 

ARLY  on  the  17th 
of  Juty,  in  1501,  at 
r  the  opening  of  a  new 
and  great  century, 
our  student  left  the 
place  "  where,"  in 
his  own  language, 
"  he  had  learned  and 
enjoyed  so  much," 
and  directed  his 
steps  toward  the 
celebrated  city  and 
university  which  towered  high  above  all  the  rest  in 
influence  in  that  part  of*  Germany.  Fifteen  miles 
distant  was  Gotha,  then,  as  it  is  now,  the  beau- 
tiful capital  of  the  duchy  of  the  same  name.  Here 
lived  Mutianus,  the  centre  of  the  poetical  club  to 
which  many  of  Luther's  subsequent  Erfurt  friends 
(as  Lange,  Spalatin,  and  Crotus  and  others)  be- 
longed. Here  Luther  preached  in  1521,  on  his 
way  to  the  diet  of  Worms.  Proceeding  as  much 
farther,  through  a  country  appearing,  as  one  ad- 
vances, more  and  more  like  the  Saxon  plains,  he 
came  to  Erfurt,  formerly  the  great  mart  of  interior 
Germany.  This  city,  though  in  the  very  heart  of 
Thuringia,  was  never  subject  to  the  landgrave. 
It  was  once  the  place  of  an  episcopal  see,  and  when 
this  was  transferred  to  Mainz,  the  archbishop  of 

6 


G2  LIFE   OF   LUTHER,  [1107-1505. 

which  was  made  primate  of  Germany,  Erfurt  was 
retained  under  his  jurisdiction,  and  regarded  as  the 
second  capital  of  his  electoral  territory.  Mean- 
while the  citizens  of  Erfurt  were  aiming  to  make 
it  a  free  imperial  city,  and  the  emperor  favoured 
the  project.  The  result  was,  that  in  the  disorders 
of  that  feudal  age,  wrhen  rights  wrere  settled  less 
by  law  than  by  physical  power,  the  three  con- 
tending parties,  the  Archbishop  of  Mainz,  the 
citizens  of  Erfurt  and  the  emperor,  each  had  a 
share  in  the  government  of  the  city.  In  general, 
however,  in  the  course  of  the  struggle,  the  citi- 
zens acquired  more  and  more  power,  and  the  city 
became  more  and  more  free.  It  was  the  citizens, 
and  not  the  archbishop  nor  emperor,  who  founded 
the  university,  and  consequently  it  had  a  practi- 
cal and  liberal  character  which  distinguished  it 
very  widely  from  that  of  Cologne.  The  Univer- 
sity of  Erfurt  had  more  than  a  thousand  students, 
and  Luther  said  that  "it  was  so  celebrated  a 
seat  of  learning  that  others  were  but  as  grammar- 
schools  compared  with  it."  At  the  time  Luther 
entered  there,  it  had  thirteen  regular  professors, 
besides  the  younger  licentiates,  or  tutors,  and 
there  were  several  richly  endowed  colleges,  or  re- 
ligious foundations,  where  the  professors  and 
students  lived  together  as  distinct  corporations. 
Theology  and  the  canonical  or  ecclesiastical  law 
took  the  highest  rank  among  the  studies  pursued 
there.  In  the  two  other  learned  professions,  law 
and  medicine,  the  old  Roman  civilians  and  the 
Greek  medical  writers  were  chiefly  studied.  In 
the  wide  department  of  philosophy,  a  sort  of  en- 


M.  13-21.]  IN   THE    UNIVERSITY.  63 

cyclopaedia  of  the  sciences,  as  contained  in  the 
■writings  of  Aristotle,  constituted  the  course  of  in- 
struction. The  Bible  was  not  studied,  and  none 
of  the  Greek  authors  above  named  were  read  in 
the  original.  Neither  languages,  except  the  Latin, 
nor  history  were  taught  after  the  manner  which 
afterward  prevailed  in  the  universities.  Every 
thing  still  wore  the  garb  of  the  Middle  Ages. 
There  were  no  experiments  or  observations  in 
natural  philosophy,  no  accurate  criticism  in  lan- 
guage or  history.  Learning  was  either  a  matter 
of  memory,  or  it  was  a  sort  of  gladiatorial  exer- 
cise in  the  art  of  disputation.  In  one  of  the  foun- 
dations at  Erfurt,  the  beneficiaries  were  required 
to  observe  daily  the  seven  canonical  hours,  as  they 
are  termed,  or  appointed  seasons  of  saying  prayers, 
to  read  the  miserere,  or  supplication  for  the  dead, 
and  to  hear  a  eulogy  on  the  character  of  the  Virgin 
Mary.  The  laws  were  very  oppressive,  from  the 
minuteness  of  their  details  and  the  solemn  oaths 
by  which  men  bound  themselves  to  obey  them. 
Tins  is  what  Luther  called  "an  accursed  method." 
"Everything,"  said  he,  "is  secured  by  oaths  and 
vows,  and  the  wretched  youth  are  cruelly  and 
without  necessity  entangled  as  in  a  net." 

The  university  life  of  Luther,  at  Erfurt,  forms  a 
striking  contrast  with  his  abject  and  suffering  con- 
dition while  begging  his  bread  at  the  doors  of  the 
charitable,  and  also  with  his  monastic  life  imme- 
diately after  leaving  the  university.  lie  now  che- 
rished, though  with  great  moderation,  that  more 
cheering  view  of  human  life  with  which  he  had 
been  made  familiar  in  the  house  of  Madam  Cotta. 


64  LIFE    OF    LUTHER.  [1497-1505. 

He  was  furthermore  stimulated  by  a  natural  love 
of  acquisition  in  useful  knowledge,  now  for  the 
first  time  awakened  into  full  activity.  The  study 
of  classical  literature,  which  had  been  revived  in 
Italy  and  France,  was  beginning  to  be  cultivated 
with  enthusiasm  in  Germany.  Of  the  young  men 
who  prosecuted  these  studies  with  zeal,  there  was 
a  brilliant  circle  then  at  Erfurt.  Without  formal- 
ly uniting  himself  with  this  classical  and  poetical 
club,  he  took  up  the  study  of  the  best  Latin  wri- 
ters in  prose  and  verse,  with  an  earnestness  that 
fully  equalled  theirs,  and  imprinted  indelibly  upon 
his  memory  those  passages  which  were  most  strik- 
ing whether  for  the  sentiment  or  the  expression. 
Thus  he  was  the  friend,  and  in  many  respects  the 
rival,  of  the  poetical  geniuses  who  sparkled  at 
Erfurt,  though  the  more  earnest  and  practical 
character  of  his  mind  gave  him  a  decided  prefer- 
ence for  solid  and  practical  learning.  Besides  the 
Roman  classics,  the  scholastic  philosophy  engaged 
much  of  his  attention.  This  must  not,  as  has 
often  been  the  case  with  the  biographers  of  Lu- 
ther, be  confounded  with  the  scholastic  theology. 
It  embraced  logic,  intellectual  philosophy,  and 
such  a  course  of  physical  science  as  is  found  in 
the  writings  of  Aristotle.  Indeed,  compends  from 
Aristotle  and  comments  upon  his  writings  consti- 
tuted the  sum  and  substance  of  the  philosophy 
taught  in  the  universities  at  this  time. 

Luther  was  now  in  comparatively  independent 
circumstances.  His  father  had  been  so  far  pros- 
perous in  his  business  as  to  be  able  to  support  him 
at  Erfurt.     Could   we  have  seen  Luther  at  this 


M.  13-21.]  IN   THE    UNIVERSITY.  05 

time,  from  the  age  of  eighteen  to  that  of  twenty- 
two,  full  of  vigour  and  activity,  exulting  in  the 
consciousness  of  superior  intellectual  power,  win- 
ning golden  opinions  by  the  rapid  progress  made 
in  his  studies,  appearing,  according  to  the  usages 
of  the  age,  with  a  sword  at  his  side,  now  eagerly 
devouring  the  contents  of  Virgil  and  Cicero,  now 
poring  over  the  subtleties  of  the  Aristotelian  logic, 
— at  one  time  overcoming  his  opponents  with  sur- 
passing ] tower  in  debate;  at  another,  teaching  the 
Aristotelian  philosophy,  while  preparing  for  the 
Legal  profession, — we  can  easily  imagine  the  sen- 
sation it  created  in  Erfurt,  and  the  chagrin  it  gave 
his  father,  when  it  was  announced  that  Luther 
had  entered  the  Augustinian  convent! 

During  the  first  two  years  which  he  spent  at 
Erfurt,  (from  1501  to  1503,)  he  was  chiefly  en- 
gaged in  the  study  of  Roman  literature  and  of 
philosophy,  at  the  end  of  which  period  he  took 
his  first  degree.  The  year  in  which  he  received 
this  honour  is  supposed  also  to  be  the  one  in  which 
the  following  occurrence  took  place.  Early  in 
the  spring,  he  set  out  in  company  with  a  friend, 
equipped  as  usual  with  a  sword,  to  visit  his  pa- 
rents. Within  an  hour  after  leaving  Erfurt,  he, 
by  some  accident,  ran  his  sword  into  his  loot  and 
opened  a  main  artery.  A  physician  was  called 
from  the  city,  who  succeeded,  not  without  diffi- 
culty, in  closing  up  the  wound.  An  unusual 
swelling  arising  from  the  forced  stoppage  of  the 
blood,  and  a  rupture  taking  place  during  the  fol- 
lowing night,  Luther  feared  the  accident  would 
prove  fatal,  and,  in  immediate  prospect  of  death, 


66  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1497-1505. 

commended  himself  to  the  Virgin  Mary.  "  Had 
I  then  died,"  he  afterward  said,  "  I  should  have 
died  in  the  faith  of  the  Virgin." 

It  was  during  the  same  year  that  Luther  had 
his  second  severe  illness.  His  first  was  while  he 
was  at  Magdeburg.  In  his  extremity,  and  while 
despairing  of  life,  he  was  visited  by  an  aged  priest, 
who  spoke  those  memorable  words  which  were 
afterward  regarded  by  some  as  prophetic :  "  Be 
of  good  comfort,  my  brother ;  you  will  not  die  at 
this  time.  God  will  yet  make  a  great  man  of  you, 
who  shall  comfort  many  others.  Whom  God  lov- 
eth  and  purposeth  to  make  a  blessing,  upon  him 
he  early  layeth  the  cross,  and  in  that  school  those 
wmo  patiently  endure  learn  much." 

Of  two  of  Luther's  principal  teachers,  Usingen 
and  Jodocusof  Eisenach,  and  of  the  subject-matter 
and  manner  of  their  teaching,  we  have  the  means 
of  knowing  more  than  is  common  in  such  cases. 
The  works  which  they  published  between  1501 
and  1514,  containing  undoubtedly  the  substance 
of  the  very  lectures  which  Luther  heard,  suggest 
to  the  curious  reader  interesting  trains  of  thought. 
A  comparison  of  their  teachings  in  the  physical 
sciences  with  Avhat  Luther,  long  after,  interwove 
in  his  commentary  on  the  beginning  of  Genesis, 
proves  not  only  that  these  books  are  but  little 
more  than  the  printed  lectures  of  their  author, 
but  also  that  Luther  faithfully  stored  those  in- 
structions away  in  his  capacious  and  retentive 
memory  for  future  use.  Here  we  cannot  sup- 
press the  general  remark,  that  the  mass  of  the 
opinions  which  Luther    afterward   expresses,  on 


M.  13-21.]  IN   THE   UNIVERSITY.  67 

these  and  other  kindred  subjects,  are  to  be  re- 
garded, not  as  originating  with  himself,  but  as 
coming  to  him  through  the  lectures  which  he 
heard  and  the  books  which  he  read.  Though  the 
two  teachers  just  named  were  more  simple  in 
their  method  and  more  just  in  their  thoughts  than 
most  of  their  contemporaries,  they  are  sufficiently 
prolix  and  dry  to  satisfy  even  a  scholastic  taste. 
Usingen  belonged  to  the  August inian  monastery 
in  Erfurt,  and  was,  no  doubt,  Luther's  teacher 
there  in  the  scholastic  theology,  as  he  had  been 
before  in  philosophy  or  dialectics.  Jodocus  of 
Eisenach,  often  called  Trutvetter,  was  more  eminent 
than  Usingen.  He  was  afterward  associated  with 
Luther  at  Wittenberg  as  professor  of  theology, 
and  was  one  of  those  early  friends  of  Luther  who 
were  grieved  at  his  bold  and  decided  measures  as 
a  reformer.  Siisse,  a  very  pious  young  man,  who, 
later  in  life,  openly  espoused  the  evangelical  cause, 
is  by  some  represented  as  Luther's  room-mate  at 
the  university.  Others  suppose  he  only  occupied 
the  same  cell  witli  him  in  the  convent.  The  inti- 
mate friendship,  which  subsisted  through  life  be- 
tween Luther  and  Spalatin  and  Lange,  was  com- 
menced when  they  were  all  students  in  Erfurt. 

It  was  in  1505,  two  years  after  taking  his  first 
degree,  that  lie  was  made  master  of  arts,  which 
entitled  him  to  teach  in  the  university.  He  ac- 
tually entered  upon  the  duties  of  this  office,  and 
taught  the  physics  and  logic  of  Aristotle.  It  was 
the  wish  of  his  father  that  he  should  cpialify 
himself  for  some  civil  office  by  studying  law; 
and,  at  the  same  time  that  he   was   teacher,  he 


68  LIFE    OF   LUTHER.  [1407-1505. 

commenced  the  study,  which,  though  soon  broken 
off  by  the  events  which  led  him  to  the  cloister, 
m;is  important  to  him,  us  enabling  him  to  discuss 
those  points  in  the  canon  law  which  were  urged 
against  the  Reformation  by  his  opponents. 


Section  IV. — The  Bible  first  seen  by  Luther  in   the  Library 
of  the  University. 

We  learn  from  Mathesius,  what  we  might,  in- 
deed, infer  from  Luther's  subsequent  character, 
that  he  was  a  young  man  of  buoyant  and  cheer- 
ful feelings  ;  and,  at  the  same  time,  that  he  began 
every  day  with  prayer,  and  went  daily  to  church 
service.  Furthermore,  "  he  neglected  no  univer- 
sity exercise,  was  wont  to  propound  questions  to 
his  teachers,  did  often  review  his  studies  with  his 
fellow-students,  and  whenever  there  were  no  ap- 
pointed exercises,  he  was  in  the  library." 

"  Upon  a  time,"  continues  the  same  writer, 
"  when  he  was  carefully  viewing  the  books  one 
after  another,  to  the  end  that  he  might  know  them 
that  were  good,  he  fell  upon  a  Latin  Bible,  which 
he  had  never  before  seen  in  all  his  life.  He  mar- 
velled greatly  as  he  noted  that  more  text,  or  more 
epistles  and  gospels,  were  therein  contained  than 
were  set  forth  and  explained  in  the  common  pos- 
tils*  and  sermons  preached  in  the  churches.  In 
turning  over  the  leaves  of  the  Old  Testament,  he 
('••II  upon  the  history  of  Samuel  and  of  his  mother 
Hannah.  This  did  he  quickly  read  through  with 
hearty  delight  and  joy;  and  because  this  was  all 

;  Collections  of  Homilies. 


M.  13-21.]  DISCOVERS  THE  BIBLE.  69 

new  to  him,  he  began  to  wish  from  the  bottom  of 
his  heart  that  our  faithful  God  would  one  day  be- 
stow upon  him  such  a  book  for  his  own." 

Luther,  who  often  alludes  to  this  incident,  once 
says  that  it  occurred  "when  he  was  a  young  man 
and  a  bachelor  of  arts."  At  another  time  he  says, 
"  when  I  was  twenty  years  old,  I  had  never  seen 
a  Bible."  In  another  place,  he  intimates  that  he 
saw  the  Bible  only  once  while  he  was  in  the  uni- 
versity, and  that  an  interval  of  about  two  years 
intervened  before  he  saw  another  copy  in  the 
cloister.  "I  was  reading,"  he'  says,  "a  place  in 
Samuel;  but  it  was  time  to  go  to  lecture.  I  would 
fain  have  read  the  whole  book  through,  but  there 
was  not  opportunity  then.  I  asked  for  a  Bible 
as  soon  as  I  had  entered  the  cloister." 

He  became  owner  of  a  postil,  which  pleased  him 
much,  because  it  contained  more  of  the  Gospels 
than  were  commonly  read  during  the  year.  The 
study  of  the  Scriptures,  therefore,  seems,  in  the 
case  of  Luther,  to  have  commenced  rather  in  the 
cloister  than  in  the  university.  It  is  natural, 
however,  and  almost  necessary  to  suppose  that  the 
history  of  Samuel,  who  led  a  consecrated  life  in 
the  temple,  and  in  whom  Luther  became  provi- 
dentially so  deeply  interested,  was  not  without  its 
influence  in  leading  the  mind  of  the  latter  to  con- 
template a  monastic  life. 


70  LIFE    6P    LUTHER.  [1505-1508. 


CHAPTER  III. 

LUTHER  IN  THE  CLOISTER  AT  ERFURT,  FROM  1505  TO  1508 

The  origin  of  the  Reformation,  as  a  religious 
movement  and  as  connected  with  the  efforts  of 
Luther,  is  to  be  traced  chiefly  to  what  he  himself 
experienced  in  the  convent  at  Erfurt.  There  he 
first  made  thorough  trial  of  that  outward  and  legal 
system  of  religion  which  had  nearly  banished  the 
gospel  of  Christ  from  the  church.  There  he 
groped  his  way  through  the  mazes  of  papal  error, 
and  found  the  path  that  led  to  Christ  as  the  sim- 
ple object  of  his  faith  and  love.  He  went  through 
all  the  process  of  overcoming  the  elements  of  a 
ceremonial,  and  of  appropriating  those  of  an  evan- 
gelical religion,  by  the  force  of  his  individual  cha- 
racter, and  by  the  power  of  the  word  and  the  Spirit 
of  God.  He  found  himself  standing  almost  soli- 
tary on  the  ground  of  justification  by  faith  alone, 
and  private  judgment  in  interpreting  the  Scrip- 
tures. From  the  time  of  his  going  to  Wittenberg 
to  the  year  1517,  he  was  chiefly  emplo}red  in  work- 
ing out  these  two  ideas,  reconciling  his  experience 
with  well-established  truths,  and  trying  upon  the 
minds  of  others,  namely,  of  his  pupils  and  some  of 
the  younger  professors,  the  same  experiment  which 
he  had  unconsciously  made  upon  himself.  When 
lie  came  to  foci  the  full  strength  of  his  founda- 
tion, and,  with  the  Bible  and  the  sober  use  of  rea- 


JE.  21-25.]  IN  THE  CLOISTER.  71 

son  as  his  weapons,  prostrated  the  scholastic  the- 
ology, and  professor  and  student  confessed  their 
power,  his  conscience  impelled  him  to  seize  upon 
the  first  and  upon  every  public  opportunity  to  pro- 
pagate  these  principles,  that  others  might  share 
with  him  so  unspeakable  a  blessing. 

The  study  of  Luther's  religious  experience  has 
a  two-fold  interest,  first,  in  itself  as  one  of  the 
most  striking  on  record,  and  then  as  a  key  to  the 
religious  character  of  the  Reformation.  Until 
recently,  the  subject  has  been  wrapt  in  such  ob- 
scurity and  confusion  that  it  has  appeared  more  as 
a  romance  than  as  a  reality.  To  Jurgens  belongs 
the  honour  of  having  first  collected  and  arranged 
all  the  known  facts  of  the  case,  in  such  a  way  as 
to  furnish  a  pretty  clear  history  of  what  was  be- 
fore both  imperfect  and  chaotic. 


Section  I. — Luther  becomes  a  Monk. 

The  whole  course  of  Luther's  training  tended 
to  impress  upon  his  mind  the  sanctity  of  the  mo- 
nastio  life.  This,  in  his  view,  was  the  surest  way 
of  pleasing  God,  and  of  escaping  the  terrors  of  the 
world  to  come.  Educated  as  he  was  to  a  legal 
view  of  religion,  and  conscious,  at  the  same  time, 
that  ho  had  not  fulfilled  the  law,  nothing  remained 
t<>  him  but  to  continue  as  he  was.  at  the  risk  of 
his  salvation,  or  to  seek  for  a  higher  kind  of  piety 
by  which  the  law  of  God  might  be  satisfied.  His 
prevailing  feeling  was  to  continue  in  his  former 
course  of  life,  but  any  sudden  terror  would  re- 
vive the  alarms  of  his  conscience,  and  suggest  the 


72  LIFE    OF    LUTHER.  [1505-1508. 

thought  of  putting  his  anxious  niind  for  ever  at 
rest  by  fleeing  to  a  cloister  as  a  refuge  for  his 
soul.  In  this  way  was  his  mind  finally  deter- 
mined. In  1505,  Alexius,  a  friend  of  Luther  in 
the  university,  was  assassinated.  Soon  after, 
about  the  first  of  July,  as  Luther  was  walking  in 
a  retired  road  between  Erfurt  and  Stotterheim, 
probably  on  his  way  home  to  escape  the  epidemic 
then  prevailing  at  Erfurt,  he  was  overtaken  by  a 
violent  thunder  storm,  and  the  lightning  struck 
with  terrific  force  near  his  feet.  He  was  stunned, 
and  exclaimed  in  his  terror,  "Help,  beloved  St. 
Anne,  and  I  will  straightway  become  a  monk."* 

Besides  the  above-mentioned  occurrences,  there 
was  an  epidemic  raging  in  the  university;  many 
of  the  teachers  and  pupils  had  fled,  and  it  was 
very  natural  that  Luther's  mind  should  be  in  a 
very  gloomy  state.  St.  Anne  was  the  reigning 
saint  in  Saxony  at  this  time,  having  recently 
become  an  object  of  religious  regard,  to  whose 
honour  the  Saxon  town  Annaberg  was  built,  and 
who,  for  a  time,  was  the  successful  rival  even  of 
the  Virgin  Mary.  Hence,  the  invocation  of  this 
saint  by  Luther. 

Referring  to  this  event,  in  a  dedication  of  a 
work  on  Monastic  Vows  to  his  father,  Luther 
says:  "I  did  not  become  a  monk  joyfully  and 
willingly,  much  less  for  the  sake  of  obtaining  a 
livelihood,  but  being  miserable  and  encompassed 

*  Such  is  the  view  in  which  the  testimony  of  Luther,  Melancthon, 
Mathesius  ami  other  early  witnesses  is  best  united.  The  representa- 
tion of  later  writers  that  Alexius  was  killed  by  lightning  is  now 
abandoned  by  must  historians. 


M.  21-25.]  BECOMES  A   MONK.  73 

with  the  terrors  and  anguish  of  death,  I  made  a 
constrained  and  forced  vow."  He  again  says, 
"  It  was  not  done  from  the  heart,  nor  willingly." 
These  statements,  taken  in  connection  with  seve- 
ral others  where  it  is  said  that  certain  views  of 
religion  drove  him  to  the  monastery,  make  it 
plain  that  it  required  the  force  of  excited  fears 
to  induce  him  to  enter  upon  a  life  which  he  had 
always  regarded  as  the  most  sacred,  and  as  most 
surely  leading  to  heaven.  How  much  he  then 
needed  the  instruction  which  Staupitz  at  a  later 
period  gave  him ! 

Before  executing  his  purpose,  he  took  two 
weeks  for  reflection.  It  has  been  said,  that  dur- 
ing this  interval,  he  regretted  his  rash  vow.  No 
doubt  he  had  to  pass  through  severe  mental  strug- 
gles ;  that  in  his  calmer  moments  opposite  con- 
siderations would  present  themselves  to  his  mind, 
and  none  with  more  power  than  that  of  having 
gone  counter  to  the  known  wishes  of  his  father, 
by  whose  toils  he  had  been  sustained  at  the  uni- 
versity. In  his  Commentary  on  Genesis  xlix.  13, 
he  says,  "When  I  had  made  a  beginning  in  the 
study  of  the  liberal  arts  and  in  philosophy,  and 
comprehended  and  learned  so  much  therein  that 
I  was  made  master,  I  might,  after  the  example 
of  others,  have  become  teacher  and  instructor  in 
turn,  or  have  prosecuted  my  studies  and  made 
greater  advancement  1  herein.  But  I  forsook  my 
parents  and  kindred,  and  betook  myself,  contrary 
to  their  will,  to  the  cloister,  and  put  on  the  cowl. 
For  I  had  suffered  myself  to  be  persuaded  that 
by  entering  into  a  religious   order,  and    taking 


74  LIFE   OF  LUTHER.  [1605-1508 

upon  me  such  hard  and  rigorous  labour,  I  should 
do  God  great  service." 

Here  may  properly  be  introduced  a  few  other 
sayings  of  Luther  in  respect  to  the  motives  which 
led  him  to  take  this  step.  In  a  manuscript  pre- 
served at  Gotha,  he  is  represented  as  saying,  "I 
went  into  the  cloister  and  forsook  the  world  be- 
cause I  despaired  of  myself."  "I  made  a  vow 
for  the  salvation  of  my  soul.  For  no  other  cause 
did  I  betake  myself  to  a  life  in  the  cloister  than 
that  I  might  serve  God  and  please  him  forever- 
more."  "  I  thought  God  did  not  concern  himself 
about  me,"  he  says  in  one  of  his  sermons ;  "  if  I 
get  to  heaven  and  be  happy,  it  will  depend  mostly 
on  myself.  I  knew  no  better  than  to  think  that 
by  my  own  works  I  must  rid  myself  of  sin  and 
death.  For  this  cause  I  became  a  monk,  and  had 
a  most  bitter  experience  withal.  Oh !  thought  I, 
if  I  only  go  into  a  cloister  and  serve  God  in  a 
cowl  and  with  a  shorn  crown,  he  will  reward  me 
and  bid  me  welcome." 

During  the  interval  of  two  weeks,  while  he 
kept  his  design  from  his  parents  and  from  his 
fellow-students,  the  Gotha  manuscript  says  that 
he  communicated  it  to  Andrew  Staffelstein,  as  the 
head  of  the  university,  and  to  a  few  pious  females. 
Staffelstein  advised  him  to  join  the  Franciscan 
order,  whose  monastery  had  just  been  rebuilt  in 
Erfurt,  and  went  immediately  with  him  to  the 
cloister,  lest  a  change  should  take  place  in  Lu- 
ther's mind.  The  teacher  resorted  also  to  flat- 
tery, no  doubt  with  a  good  conscience,  saying 
that  of  none  of  his  pupils  did  he  entertain  higher 


IE.  21-25.]  BECOMES  A   MONK.  75 

hopes  in  respect  to  piety  and  goodness.  "When 
they  arrived  at  the  cloister,  the  monks  urged  his 
connecting  himself  immediately  with  the  order. 
Luther  replied  that  he  must  first  make  known 
his  intention  to  his  parents.  But  Staffelstein 
and  the  friars  rejoined  that  he  must  forsake  father 
and  mother,  and  steal  away  to  the  cross  of  Christ. 
Whosoever  putteth  his  hand  to  the  plough  and 
looketh  back  is  not  worthy  of  the  kingdom  of 
God.  In  this  "  monstrous  inhumanity,"  as  Lu- 
ther calls  it,  "  savouring  more  of  the  wolf  and 
the  tyrant  than  of  the  Christian  and  the  man," 
the  monks  were  only  carrying  out  the  principle 
which  Jerome  had  taught  them,  and  which  was 
the  more  weighty,  being  sanctioned  by  his  great 
name.  As  quoted  by  Luther,  in  his  Commentary 
on  Gen.  xliii.  30,  the  words  of  that  ancient  Fa- 
ther run  thus :  "  Though  thy  father  should  lie 
before  thy  door  weeping  and  lamenting,  and  thy 
mother  should  show  the  body  that  bore  thee 
and  the  breasts  that  nursed  thee,  see  that  thou 
trample  them  under  foot,  and  go  onward  straight- 
way to  Christ."  By  such  perversion  of  Scrip- 
ture and  reason  did  the  monks  deprive  many  a 
parent  of  the  society  of  his  children.  "That," 
.says  Luther  again,  "  is  the  teaching  of  antichrist, 
and*  you  may  boldly  tell  him,  he  lieth.  Next  to 
obedience  to  himself,  before  all  things  and  above 
all  things,  God  require! h  obedience  to  parents.  .  .  . 
A  son  or  a  daughter  runneth  away  from  his  father, 
and  goeth  into  a  cloister  against  his  will.  The 
pope  with  his  party  of  Herodians  approveth  the 
act,  and  thus   compelleth   the  people  to  tear  in 


76  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1505-1508. 

pieces  a  command  of  God  in  order  to  worship 
God."  "Hadst  thou  known,"  it  is  said  in  the 
above-mentioned  dedicatory  epistle  of  Luther  to 
his  father,  "that  I  was  then  in  thy  power, 
wouldst  thou  not,  from  thine  authority  as  a  fa- 
ther, have  plucked  me  out  of  my  cowl  ?  Had  I 
known  it,  I  would  not  have  essayed  such  a  thing 
against  thy  will  and  knowledge,  though  I  must 
suffer  a  thousand  deaths."  It  seems,  therefore, 
that  Luther's  mind  was  in  a  conflict  between  a 
sense  of  duty  to  his  parents  and  a  false  persua- 
sion of  duty  to  his  own  soul  and  to  God.  Even 
the  father  was  somewhat  puzzled  by  the  spe- 
ciousness  of  the  monastic  logic.  But  the  son 
made  the  former  consideration  yield  to  the  lat- 
ter, which  the  father  always  maintained  was  an 
error.  We  must  not  be  surprised  that  such 
scruples  were  entertained  in  respect  to  the  filial 
obligation  of  one  who  was  about  twenty-two 
years  of  age ;  for,  not  to  mention  that  by  law  a 
son  did  not  reach  the  age  of  majority  till  he  was 
twenty-five  years  of  age,  filial  obedience  was,  as 
in  the  patriarchal  age,  considered  as  due  to  an 
indefinite  period  of  life. 

Luther,  however,  did  not  enter  into  the  cloister 
of  the  Franciscans,  but  preferred  that  of  the  Au- 
gustinian  eremites.  Undoubtedly  a  regard  for 
the  literary  and  more  elevated  character  of  that 
order  decided  his  choice.  This  took  place,  as 
Luther  himself  once  said,  on  the  17th  of  July, 
L505.  On  the  evening  preceding,  he  invited  his 
university  friends  to  a  social  party.  The  hours 
passed    away   in   lively  conversation   and   song. 


M.  21-25.]  BECOMES  A  MONK.  77 

Until  near  the  close  of  that  evening,  according 
to  Melancthon,  the  guests  had  no  intimation  of 
what  was  to  follow.  When  Luther  announced 
his  purpose  to  them,  they  endeavoured  to  dis- 
suade him  from  it.  But  it  was  all  in  vain.  "To 
day,"  said  he,  "you  see  me;  after  this,  you  will 
sec  me  no  more." 

The  very  same  night,  or  early  the  following 
morning,  he  presented  himself  at  the  door  of  the 
convent,  according  to  previous  arrangement,  and 
was  admitted.  His  scholastic,  classical  and  law 
hooks  he  gave  to  the  booksellers;  his  master's 
ring,  given  when  he  took  that  degree,  and  his 
secular  attire,  he  sent  to  his  parents.  The  only 
books  which  he  retained  were  the  two  Roman 
j loots,  Virgil  and  Plautus,  a  circumstance  that 
throws  light  upon  the  peculiarly  susceptible  and 
almost  romantic  character  of  his  mind,  no  less 
than  does  the  festive  hour  with  which  he  had 
the  resolution  to  close  his  secular  career.  He 
informed  his  other  friends  and  his  parents,  by 
letter,  of  the  important  step  he  had  taken.  The 
former,  lamenting  that  such  a  man  should  be 
buried  alive,  as  it  were,  almost  besieged  the 
cloister,  socking  Cor  two  successive  days  an  inter- 
view with  their  friend.  But  the  cloister  door  was 
bolted  against  them,  and  he  was  not  to  be  seen 
by  them  for  a  month.  Luther's  father  probably 
did  not  come  immediately  to  the  cloister,  (as 
some  writers  have  asserted,  confounding  this  oc- 
casion with  that  of  his  ordination  as  priest,)  but 
replied  to  his  son's  letter  in  a  manner  which 
showed   the    highest   displeasure,   and   withheld 


78  LIFE  OF  LUTHER.  [1505-1503. 

the  respectful  form  of  address  (1/ir)  which,  from 
the  time  the  degree  of  master  of  arts  was  con- 
ferred, he  had  ever  given  him,  and  employed  one 
((/it)  which  was  ordinarily  given  to  children  and 
servants. 

To  human  view,  the  course  of  Luther,  in  leav- 
ing the  university  and  the  study  of  the  law,  and 
in  entering  a  cloister,  seems  a  most  unfortunate 
one.  The  best  years  of  his  life,  one  would  think, 
were  thrown  away  upon  solemn  trifles.  But,  if 
we  consider  that,  after  a  public  education,  a  se- 
cluded life  often  contributes  most  to  true  great- 
ness, by  holding  a  man  long  at  the  very  fountain- 
head  of  thought  and  reflection,  (as  was  the  case 
with  Chrysostom,  Augustine  and  many  others,) 
and  if,  moreover,  we  consider  that  the  false  foun- 
dations of  a  system  of  error  are  often  best  under- 
stood by  him  who  has  made  the  most  perfect  trial 
of  them,  we  shall  conclude  with  Luther,  "  God 
ordered  that  I  should  become  monk  not  without 
good  reason,  that,  being  taught  by  experience,  I 
might  take  up  my  pen  against  the  pope." 


Section  II. — The  Novitiate.   1505. 

The  first  act  was  that  of  assuming  the  vest- 
ments of  the  novitiate.  The  solemn  ceremonies 
of  that  occasion  were  settled  by  the  rules  of  the 
order.  The  transaction  was  to  take  place  in  the 
presence  of  the  whole  assembly.  The  prior  pro- 
posed to  the  candidate  the  question,  whether  lie 
thought  his  strength  was  sufficient  to  bear  the 
burdens  about  to  be  imposed  upon  him;  at  the 


M.  21-25.]  THE   NOVITIATE.  79 

same  time  reminding  him  of  the  strictness  of 
their  discipline,  and  the  renunciation  which  one 
must  make  of  his  own  will,  subjecting  it  to  that 
of  the  order.  lie  referred  to  the  plain  living  and 
clothing,  the  nightly  vigils  and  daily  toils,  the 
mortifications  of  the  flesh,  the  reproach  attached 
to  a  state  of  poverty  and  mendicancy,  the  languor 
produced  by  fisting,  and  the  tedium  of  solitude, 
and  other  similar  things  which  awaited  him. 
The  candidate  replied,  that  with  the  help  of 
God  he  would  make  trial  thereof.  The  prior 
said,  "  We  receive  you  then  on  probation  for 
one  year;  and  may  God,  who  hath  begun  a 
good  work  in  you,  carry  it  on  unto  perfection." 
The  whole  assembly  then  cried  "Amen,"  and 
struck  up  the  Magne  pater  Augustine,  (Great 
Father  Augustine.)  Meanwhile  the  head  was 
shorn,  the  secular  robes  laid  aside,  and  the 
spiritual  robes  put  on.  The  prior  intimated  to 
the  individual  that  with  these  last  he  was  also 
to  put  on  the  new  man.  He  now  kneeled  down 
before  the  prior,  antiphonies  were  sung,  and  the 
divine  blessing  invoked,  thus:  "May  God,  who 
hath  converted  this  young  man  from  the  world 
and  prepared  for  him  a  mansion  in  heaven,  grant 
that  his  daily  walk  may  be  as  becometh  his  call- 
ing, and  that  he  may  have  cause  to  be  thankful 
for  this  day's  doings,"  &c.  Then  the  procession 
moved  on,  singing  responses  again,  till  they 
reached  the  choir,  where  they  all  prostrated 
themselves  in  prayer.  The  candidate  was  next 
conducted  to  the  common  hall  of  the  cloister, 
where   he   received   from   the   prior  and   all   the 


80  LIFE   OF    LUTHER.  [1505-1508. 

brethren  the  fraternal  kiss.  He  then  bowed  the 
knee  again  before  the  prior,  who,  after  reminding 
him  that  he  who  persevereth  to  the  end  shall  be 
saved,  gave  him  over  to  the  preceptor,  whose 
duty  it  was  to  instruct  him  during  his  novitiate. 

The  order  of  Augustinian  eremites,  which  ori- 
ginated about  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury, was  said  to  have  nearly  two  thousand  clois- 
ters, besides  three  hundred  nunneries  and  more 
than  thirty  thousand  monks.  It  was  reformed 
and  organized  anew  at  the  Council  of  Basle,  in 
the  fifteenth  century.  The  celebrated  Proles, 
who  wTas  at  Magdeburg  when  Luther  was  there 
at  school,  was  the  second  vicar  after  the  re-organi- 
zation, and  in  1503  Staupitz  was  the  fourth,  who, 
in  the  following  year,  that  is,  the  year  before  Lu- 
ther entered  the  cloister  at  Erfurt,  gave  to  the 
order  a  new  constitution.  The  abler  and  better 
men  of  this  order,  such  as  Proles  and  Staupitz, 
were  led,  by  the  study  of  the  writings  of  Augus- 
tine, to  entertain  his  views  of  the  doctrine  of 
divine  grace  and  of  justification  by  faith.  The 
Augustinian  friars  were  generally  more  retiring, 
studious  and  contemplative  than  the  ambitious, 
gross  and  bigoted  Dominicans  and  Franciscans. 
Hence  Luther's  preference  of  the  order. 

According  to  the  new  rules  laid  down  by  Stau- 
pitz, the  prior  was  to  give  to  each  novice  a  pre- 
ceptor and  guide,  wlio  should  be  learned,  experi- 
enced and  zealous  for  the  interests  of  the  order. 
Ii  was  the  duty  of  this  preceptor  to  initiate  the 
novice  into  a  knowledge  of  all  the  rules  and  regu- 
lations that  had  been  established;  to  explain   to 


M.  21-25.]  THE    NOVITIATE.  81 

him  the  system  of  worship  to  be  observed,  and 
the  signs  by  which  directions  were  silently  given ; 
to  see  that  he  was  awakened  by  night  to  attend 
to  all  the  vigils ;  that  he  observed,  at  their  proper 
limes  and  places,  the  prescribed  inclinations,  genu- 
flections and  prostrations ;  that  he  did  not  neglect 
the  silent  prayers  and  private  confessions ;  and 
that  he  made  a  proper  use  of  the  books,  sacred 
utensils  and  garments.  The  novice  was  to  con- 
verse with  no  one  except  in  the  presence  of  the 
preceptor  or  prior;  never  to  dispute  respecting 
the  regulations ;  to  take  no  notice  of  visiters  ;  to 
drink  only  in  a  sitting  posture,  and  holding  the 
cup  with  both  hands;  to  walk  with  downcast 
eye ;  to  bow  low  in  receiving  every  gift,  and  to 
say,  "  The  Lord  be  praised  in  his  gifts ;"  to  love 
poverty,  avoid  pleasure,  and  subdue  his  own  will ; 
to  read  the  Scriptures  diligently,  and  to  listen  to 
others  eagerly  and  learn  with  avidity.  Luther 
was  so  thoroughly  drilled  in  all  these  practices 
that  he  retained  some  of  them,  as  a  matter  of 
habit,  through  life.  "  The  young  monks,"  says 
he,  in  referring  to  one  of  these  practices,  "  were 
taught,  when  they  received  any  gift,  if  it  were  but 
a  feather,  to  bow  low  and  say,  'God  be  praised 
for  every  gift  he  bestoweth.' ': 

Trespasses  were  classified  under  the  heads  of 
small,  great,  greater,  greatest.  To  the  small  belong 
the  failing  to  go  to  church  as  soon  as  the  sign 
is  given,  or  forgetting  to  touch  the  ground  instant- 
ly with  the  hand  and  to  smite  the  breast,  if  in 
reading  in  the  choir  or  in  singing  the  least  error 
is  committed;  looking  about  the  house  in  time  of 


82  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1505-1508. 

service ;  making  any  disturbance  in  the  dormitory 
or  in  the  cell;  desiring  to  sing  or  read  otherwise 
than  in  the  prescribed  order;  omitting  prostration 
when  giving  thanks  at  the  Annunciation  or  Christ- 
mas ;  forgetting  the  benediction  in  going  out  or 
coming  in  ;  neglecting  to  return  books  or  garments 
to  their  proper  places;  dropping  one's  food,  or 
spilling  one's  drink,  or  eating  without  saying 
grace,  &c.  &c.  To  great  trespasses  were  reckoned 
contending  with  any  one,  reminding  one  of  a  for- 
mer fault,  breaking  the  prescribed  silence  or  fasts, 
looking  at  women,  or  talking  with  them,  except 
at  the  confessional  or  in  brief  replies,  &c. 

Luther  was  at  once  put  into  subjection  to  all 
these  trivial  and  often  senseless  laws.  The  good 
monks  seemed  to  delight  in  teaching  lessons  of 
humility.  With  his  studies,  in  which  he  was  al- 
ready too  much  distinguished  for  them,  they  were 
not  at  all  pleased.  He  himself  says,  "  As  I  came 
into  the  cloister,  they  said  to  me,  '  It  shall  be  with 
you  as  it  was  with  us — sack  on  the  neck.' "  Again 
he  says,  "  In  Italy  there  is  an  order  of  Ignorants, 
who  vow  sacred  ignorance.  All  orders  might  lay 
claim  to  that  title,  for  that  they  give  heed  only  to 
the  words,  but  not  to  the  sense,  of  what  they  read 
or  repeat.  They  say,  if  thou  understandest  not 
the  meaning  of  the  Scriptures  and  the  prayers, 
Satan  doth  and  fleeth.  The  alpha  and  omega  of 
the  monks  is  to  hate  knowledge  and  study.  If  a 
brother  is  given  to  study,  they  straightway  sur- 
mise  that  lie  wishes  to  bear  rule  over  them." 

The  Erfurt  monks  were  not  all  of  the  most 
spiritual  character.     Luther  says  of  the  monks  in 


M.  21-25.]  THE   NOVITIATE.  83 

general,  that  "  For  one  fast  they  had  three  feasts. 
At  the  evening  collation  two  cans  of  good  beer  and 
a  little  can  of  wine  were  given  to  each  monk,  be- 
sides spiced  cakes  and  salted  bread  to  quicken 
their  thirst.  The  poor  brethren  appeared  like 
fiery  angels."  That  Luther  had  in  mind  the 
monks  at  Erfurt  is  pretty  evident,  from  his  saying 
that  he  had,  in  the  papacy,  never  seen  a  proper 
fast ;  that  "abstinence  from  meat,"  signified  only  to 
have  the  best  of  fish,  with  the  nicest  seasoning 
and  good  wine ;  besides,  "  They  taught,"  says  he, 
"that  we  should  despise  riches,  vineyards  and 
fields ;  and  yet  they  seek  after  them,  most  of  all, 
and  eat  and  drink  the  very  best.  One  brother  in 
the  cloister  could  consume  five  biscuits,  when  one 
was  enough  for  me."  One  doctor,  in  the  cloister, 
had  omitted  the  canonical  hours  for  three  months, 
so  that  he  could  not  now  make  them  all  up.  He 
therefore  gave  a  few  guldens  to  two  brethren  to 
help  him  to  pray,  that  he  might  get  through  the 
sooner. 

Of  the  treatment  which  Luther  received  after 
entering  upon  his  novitiate,  it  is  not  easy  to  judge. 
Was  it  according  to  the  spirit  of  the  order,  and 
consequently  a  mode  of  treatment  to  which  all 
without  distinction  were  at  first  subject?  or  was 
the  deportment  of  the  monks  toward  Luther  par- 
ticularly harsh  and  severe?  Some  considerations 
may  be  urged  in  favour  of  the  former  view.  Lu- 
ther himself  represents  it  as  the  vice  of  the  sys- 
tem. "  True  obedience,  that  alone  of  which  they 
boast,  the  monks  seek  to  prove  by  requiring  un- 
reasonable, childish  and  foolish  things,  all  which 


84  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1505-1508. 

were  to  be  cheerfully  submitted  to."  He  never 
complains  of  faring  worse  than  others :  but  he 
does  complain  that  no  distinctions  were  made  ac- 
cording to  the  physical  constitution  and  mental 
state  of  individuals;  that  "every  man's  shoes 
were  made  on  one  and  the  same  last,  and  that  all 
were  governed  by  one  inflexible  rule."  "Augus- 
tine," he  says,  "acted  more  wisely,  teaching  that 
all  men  were  not  to  be  measured  by  the  same  rule." 
So  much,  however,  seems  to  be  true  in  regard  to 
the  members  of  the  cloister  of  Erfurt,  that  they 
looked  with  jealousy  upon  the  distinguished  and 
learned  novitiate,  and  felt  a  satisfaction  in  seeing 
him  performing  the  menial  offices  of  doorkeeper, 
sweep,  and  street-beggar  in  the  very  city  where 
he  had  so  many  literary  acquaintances  to  witness 
his  humiliation. 

With  what  patience  and  acquiescence  he  sub- 
mitted to  all  the  duties  and  tasks  imposed  upon 
him  by  his  order,  we  learn  from  his  own  declara- 
tions. These  are  his  words :  "I  was  a  monk  with- 
out ever  complaining;  of  that  I  can  justly  boast." 
"  When  I  first  became  a  monk,  I  stormed  the  very 
heavens."  He  speaks  of  having  exposed  himself 
in  watchings,  "  till  he  nearly  perished  in  the  cold ;" 
of  having  afflicted  and  tortured  his  body,  "  so  that 
he  could  not  have  endured  it  long;"  and  of  having 
prayed,  fasted,  watched,  and  inflicted  bodily  pains, 
and  so  seriously  "injured  his  head,  that  he  had 
not  recovered,  and  never  should  so  long  as  he 
liv.-d." 

For  the  sake  of  the  connection,  we  will  intro- 
duce bere  a  passage  Hint  probably  relates,  in  part 


M.  21-25.]  THE   NOVITIATE.  85 

at  least,  to  a  somewhat  later  period:  "I  verily 
kept  the  rules  of  my  order  with  great  diligence 
and  zeal.  I  often  fasted  till  I  was  sick  and  well- 
nigh  dead.  Not  only  did  I  observe  the  rules 
straitly,  but  I  took  upon  myself  other  tasks, 
and  had  a  peculiar  way  by  myself.  My  seniors 
strove  against  this,  my  singularity,  and  with  good 
reason.  I  was  a  shameful  persecutor  and  de- 
stroyer of  my  own  body;  for  I  fasted,  prayed, 
watched,  and  made  myself  weary  and  languid 
beyond  what  I  could  endure." 

Connected  with  such  a  state  of  mind  and  such 
religious  severities,  Ave  should  naturally  expect  to 
see  the  greatest  reverence  for  the  papal  hierarchy. 
It  cannot  be  surprising,  therefore,  to  hear  him  say, 
"I  can  with  truth  affirm,  if  there  ever  was  one 
who  held  the  papal  laws  and  the  traditions  of  the 
fathers  in  reverence,  I  was  such."  "  I  had  an  un- 
feigned veneration  for  the  pope,  not  seeking  after 
livings,  or  places,  and  such-like,  but  whatsoever  1 
did,  I  did  with  singleness  of  heart,  with  upright 
zeal,  and  for  the  glory  of  God."  "  So  great  was  the 
pope  in  my  esteem,  that  I  accounted  the  least  de- 
viation from  him  a  sin,  deserving  damnation;  and 
this  ungodly  opinion  made  me  to  hold  Huss  as  an 
accursed  heretic,  so  much  so  that  I  esteemed  it  a 
sin  only  to  think  of  him;  and,  to  defend  the  pope's 
authority,  I  would  have  kindled  the  flames  to  burn 
the  heretic,  and  should  have  believed  that  I  was 
thereby  showing  the  truest  obedience  to  God." 

We  have  learned  that  Luther  was  driven  to  the 
cloister  by  a  disquieted  conscience  and  supersti- 
tious fears  and  hopes.     It  is  natural   to  inquire 


86  LIFE    OF    LUTHER.  [1505-1508. 

how  far  his  conscience  was  quieted,  his  fears  al- 
layed, and  his  hopes  realized.  Let  him  answer 
for  himself:  "When  I  was  a  monk,  I  was  out- 
wardly much  holier  than  now.  I  kept  the  vow  I 
had  taken  with  the  greatest  zeal  and  diligence  by 
day  and  by  night,  and  yet  I  found  no  rest,  for  all 
the  consolations  which  I  drew  from  my  own  right- 
eousness and  works  were  ineffectual."  "  Doubts 
all  the  while  cleaved  to  my  conscience,  and  I 
thought  within  myself,  Who  knoweth  whether  this 
is  pleasing  and  acceptable  to  God,  or  not."  "  Even 
when  I  was  the  most  devout,  I  went  as  a  doubter 
to  the  altar,  and  as  a  doubter  I  came  away  again. 
If  I  had  made  my  confession,  I  was  still  in  doubt ; 
if,  upon  that,  I  left  off  prayer,  I  was  again  in 
doubt;  for  we  were  wrapt  in  the  conceit  that  we 
could  not  pray  and  should  not  be  heard,  unless  we 
were  wholly  pure  and  without  sin,  like  the  saints 
in  heaven."  It  is  difficult  for  us  to  conceive  of 
the  anguish  which  a  tender  and  delicate  conscience 
would  feel  under  the  influence  of  the  doctrines 
which  were  then  taught  in  respect  to  confession. 
Who  could  be  certain  that  he  knew  the  nature 
and  extent  of  all  the  sins  he  had  committed  ? 
What  infallible  rule  had  he  by  which  he  could 
judge  rightly  of  all  the  acts  and  circumstances 
connected  with  sin  ?  Of  his  motives  and  inten- 
tions he  might  have  a  tolerably  accurate  know- 
ledge, but  how  was  it  with  acts  in  themselves 
considered,  which  were  the  main  thing  in  the 
ethics  of  the  confessional  ?  Even  of  those  sins 
which  were  defined  and  measured  by  the  rules  of 
the  order,  since  they  related  to  a  thousand  trifling 


M.  21-25.]  THE   NOVITIATE.  87 

acts  recurring  almost  every  moment,  few  persons 
could  retain  a  distinct  consciousness  or  recollec- 
tion so  as  to  be  perfectly  sure  at  each  confession 
that  nothing  was  omitted  nor  forgotten ;  and  yet 
one  such  omission  vitiated  the  whole  confession 
and  rendered  prayer  useless.  This  was  the  scor- 
pion sting  which  Luther  so  keenly  felt.  He  al- 
ways doubted  the  completeness  of  his  confession. 
If  he  prayed,  it  might  be  of  no  use ;  if  he  neg- 
lected prayer,  his  doubts  were  increased.  "The 
confession  was  an  intolerable  burden  laid  upon 
the  church.  For  there  was  no  sorer  trouble,  as 
we  all  know  by  experience,  than  that  every  one 
should  be  compelled  to  make  confession,  or  be 
guilty  of  a  mortal  sin.  Moreover,  confession  was 
beset  with  so  many  difficulties,  and  the  conscience 
distressed  with  the  reckoning  up  of  so  many  dif- 
ferent classes  of  sins,  that  no  one  could  make  his 
confession  complete  enough."  "If  the  confession 
was  not  perfect,  and  done  with  exceeding  particu- 
larity, the  absolution  was  of  none  effect,  nor  were 
the  sins  forgiven.  Therewith  were  the  people  so 
hard  pressed,  that  there  was  no  one  but  must  de- 
spair of  confessing  so  perfectly,  (it  was  in  very 
deed  impossible;)  and  no  conscience  could  abide 
the  trial,  nor  have  confidence  in  the  absolution." 

"When  I  was  a  monk,  I  used  oft-times  to  be 
very  contrite  for  my  sins,  and  to  confess  them  all 
as  much  as  was  possible;  and  I  performed  the 
penance  that  was  enjoined  unto  me  as  straitly  and 
as  rigorously  as  I  could.  Yet  for  all  this,  my  con- 
science could  never  be  tranquil  and  assured,  but  I 
was  always  in  doubt,  and  said  to  myself,  This  or 


88  LIFE   OF   LUTHEE.  [1505-1508. 

that  hast  thou  not  done  rightly;  thou  wast  not 
sorrowful  enough  for  thy  sins ;  this  and  that  sin 
thou  didst  forget  in  thy  confession."  Though  he 
"  confessed  every  day,  it  was  all  in  vain."  "  The 
smart  and  anguish  of  conscience,"  he  elsewhere 
says,  "  were  as  great  in  the  cowl  as  they  were  be- 
fore out  of  it."  These  declarations  may  easily  he 
reconciled  with  others  which  represent  him  as  feel- 
ing happy  when  he  could  say,  "  To-day  I  have  done 
no  wrong ;  I  have  been  obedient  to  my  prior,  have 
fasted  and  prayed,  and  God  is  gracious  toward  me." 

Such  occasions  were  of  rare  occurrence,  and 
were  the  results  of  that  superficial  feeling  which 
the  strongest  and  profoundest  minds  are  liable 
to  have,  in  those  passive  moments  when  they  sur- 
render themselves  to  the  influence  of  popular 
belief.  But  the  chief  current  of  Luther's  feel- 
ings, in  spite  of  all  the  violence  he  did  to  himself 
to  prevent  it,  ran  counter  to  that  belief,  so  that  in 
after-life,  when  reverting  to  these  scenes,  he  could 
speak  of  the  predominant  state  of  his  mind  as 
though  there  had  been  no  other.  The  effect  of 
such  a  view  of  religion  as  he  then  entertained, 
and  of  such  an  experience  as  he  had  of  a  daily 
deviation  from  its  precepts,  is  truthfully  described 
in  the  following  words,  undoubtedly  the  utterance 
of  his  own  heart :  "  He  who  thinketh  that  a 
Christian  ought  to  be  without  any  fault,  and  yet 
seeth  many  faults  in  himself,  must  needs  be  con- 
sumed at  length  with  melancholy  and  despair." 

Not  only  did  Luther  suffer  from  the  unexpected 
discovery  of  the  real  sinfulness  of  his  heart,  but 
he  was  scarcely  less  tormented  with    imaginary 


M.  21-25.]  THE   NOVITIATE.  89 

sins  and  false  scruples  of  conscience.  "  The 
devil,"  says  he,  "seizeth  upon  some  trifling  sin, 
and  by  thai  casteth  into  the  shade  all  the  good 
works  which  thou  hast  thy  life  long  done,  so 
that  thou  dost  sec  nothing  hut  this  one  sin."  "I 
speak  from  experience;  I  know  his  wiles  and 
subtleties,  how  of  one  little  mote  he  maketh 
many  great  beams,  that  is  to  say,  of  that  which 
is  the  least  sin,  or  no  sin  at  all,  he  maketh  a  very 
hell,  so  that  the  wide  world  is  too  strait  for  one." 

The  fiery  imagination  of  Luther,  which  solitude 
served  but  to  kindle  into  an  intenser  flame,  the 
strength  and  depth  of  his  religious  passions,  which 
found  no  such  vent  as  they  needed,  and  the  be- 
wildered state  of  his  mind  in  respect  to  the  ele- 
mentary principles  of  Christianity,  all  conspired 
to  give  him  an  air  of  peculiarity  which  the  monks 
could  not  comprehend.  Too  much  of  original 
character  lay  concealed  beneath  that  demure  yet 
singular  deportment  to  be  controlled  even  by  the 
iron  forms  which  the  order  laid  upon  all  alike. 

Luther's  mind  had  an  individuality  which  sepa- 
rated him  from  the  mass  and  heightened  his  soli- 
tude. In  the  mental  processes  through  which  lie 
passed,  he  was  alone  and  without  sympathy.  lie 
was  driven,  at  last,  almost  to  phrensy.  Often 
was  his  bodily  frame  overpowered  by  the  inten- 
sity of  his  excited  feelings,  and  there  was  no 
skilful  physician  of  the  soul  at  hand  to  prescribe 
for  his  case.  Speaking  on  this  point,  he  observes, 
"In  my  huge  temptations,  which  consumed  my 
body  so  that  I  well-nigh  lost  my  breath,  and  hardly 
knew  whether   I  had  still  any  brain  left  or  nut, 

8* 


90  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1505-1508. 

there  was  no  one  to  comfort  nie."  If  he  opened 
his  heart  to  any  one,  the  only  reply  he  received 
was,  "I  know  nothing  about  such  temptations," 
and  he  was  left  to  the  gloomy  conclusion,  that  he 
"  was  to  be  alone  in  this  disconsolate  state."  But, 
as  the  melancholy  mood  here  described  only  com- 
menced during  his  novitiate  and  extended  through 
the  second  year  of  his  life  in  the  cloister,  we 
must  break  off  the  narration  for  the  present,  and 
direct  our  attention  to  his  other  employments 
during  the  first  year. 

"  When  I  was  received  into  the  cloister,"  he  said 
once  to  his  friends,  according  to  the  Gotha  manu- 
script, "I  called  for  a  Bible,  and  the  brethren  gave 
me  one.  It  was  bound  in  red  morocco.  I  made 
myself  so  familiar  with  it  that  I  knew  on  what 
page  and  in  what  place  every  passage  stood.  Had 
I  kept  it,  I  should  have  been  an  excellent  textual 
theologian.  No  other  study  than  that  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures  pleased  me.  I  read  therein  zealously, 
and  imprinted  them  on  my  memory.  Many  a  time 
a  single  pregnant  passage  would  abide  the  whole 
day  long  in  my  mind.  On  weighty  words  of 
the  prophets,  which  even  now  I  remember  well,  I 
cogitated  again  and  again,  although  I  could  not 
apprehend  the  meaning  thereof;  as,  for  example, 
Ave  read  in  Ezekiel,  '  I  desire  not  the  death  of  the 
sinner.'"  Again  he  says,  "Not  till  after  I  had 
made  myself  acquainted  with  the  Bible,  did  I 
study  the  writers."  By  "the  writers,"  he  must 
mean  the  scholastic  theologians.  For  he  himself 
says,  in  a  preface  to  Bugenhagen's  edition  of  Atha- 
nasius,  that  he  "read  the  colloquy  between  Atha- 


M.  21-25.]  THE    NOVITIATE.  91 

nasius  and  Arius  with  great  interest,  in  the  first 
year  of  his  monastic  life,  at  Erfurt."  No  doubt  he 
also  read  at  that  time  the  legends  of  the  saints,  the 
Lives  of  the  Fathers,  (a  favourite  book  with  him,) 
and  other  works  of  a  similar  tendency.  The  new 
rules  of  the  order  prescribed,  however,  the  diligent 
study  of  the  Scriptures,  and  the  probationary  year 
appears  to  have  been  designated  for  biblical  study. 
But  we  must  guard  against  being  misled  by  the 
fact  that  there  was  such  a  rule,  and  by  the  name 
that  was  given  to  the  study.  Neither  the  senti- 
ments nor  the  practice  of  the  Erfurt  monks  coin- 
cided with  the  rule.  Though  they  could  not  refuse 
to  give  a  Bible  to  the  novice  who  requested  it,  they 
discouraged  the  study  of  it.  Besides,  Luther's 
time  was  so  much  occupied  with  other  useless 
and  menial  services  that  his  progress  in  the  study 
of  the  Scriptures  must  have  been  much  impeded. 
He  was,  furthermore,  destitute  of  suitable  helps 
for  studying  them  critically.  He  did  not  see  the 
Bible  in  the  original,  nor  had  he  then  any  know- 
ledge of  the  Greek  or  Hebrew.  He  had  only 
the  Latin  Vulgate,  with  a  most  miserable  com- 
mentary, called  the  Glossa  Ordinaria,  or  Common 
Gloss.  And,  what  is  more  than  all,  he  brought  to 
the  study  of  the  Bible  a  mind  overborne  with  mo- 
nastic  and  papal  prejudices. 

The  method  of  what  was  called  biblical  studies, 
as  then  pursued  in  the  monasteries  and  universities, 
was  entirely  different  from  that  to  which  we,  in  the 
present  age,  are  accustomed.  The  Bible  was  not  stu- 
died as  a  whole,  nor  any  of  the  sacred  writers  in  a 
connected  manner,  so  as  to  learn  the  scope  and  gene- 


90  LTFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1505-1508. 

ral  design  of  the  book.  Of  course,  the  author  was  not 
made  his  own  interpreter,  nor  were  any  sound  rules 
of  interpretation  observed.  A  text  was,  in  the  first 
place,  taken  out  of  its  connection,  and  interpreted 
metaphysically,  as  if  it  were  a  scholastic  maxim, 
and  forced  at  once  into  an  unnatural  connection 
with  dialectics,  or  used  as  a  secondary  and  subsi- 
diary support  of  a  doctrine  which  rested  mainly 
on  a  metaphysical  basis.  In  the  next  place,  the 
literal  sense  was  deserted  at  pleasure,  and  an 
allegorical  one  introduced  to  suit  the  object  of  the 
interpreter.  The  absurd  conceits  of  Origen,  Je- 
rome, and  other  early  fathers  of  the  church,  were 
handed  down  by  tradition,  and  the  study  of  such 
traditionary  interpretation,  collected  in  compends, 
was  called  biblical  study.  The  false  interpreta- 
tions to  be  found  in  the  papal  bulls  and  decretals, 
and  in  the  approved  works  of  the  scholastic  wri- 
ters, would  furnish  a  large  chapter  in  the  book  of 
human  follies. 

Luther  was  not  only  under  these  influences,  but 
yielded  to  them.  In  a  letter  to  Spalatin,  June  29, 
1518,  he  says,  "I  myself  followed  the  doctrines  and 
rules  of  the  scholastic  theology,  and  according  to 
them  did  I  desire  to  handle  the  Scriptures."  In  his 
Commentary  on  Genesis  ix.  he  says,  "I  have  often 
told  you  of  what  sort  theology  was  when  I  first  be- 
gai  i  the  study  thereof.  The  letter,  said  the}r,  killeth. 
For  this  cause  I  was  especially  opposed  to  Lyra 
more  than  to  all  other  teachers,  because  he  cleaved 
so  diligently  to  the  text  and  abode  by  it.  But 
now,  for  this  selfsame  reason,  I  prefer  him  before 
all   other  interpreters  of  Scripture."     Again,  he 


M.  21-25.]  TAKING    THE   VOW.  93 

says,  "When  I  was  young",  I  loved  allegories  to 
such  a  degree  that  I  thought  every  thing  must  be 
turned  into  allegories.  To  this  Origen  and  Je- 
rome gave  occasion,  -whom  I  esteemed  as  being 
the  greatest  theologians."  Well,  indeed,  might 
he  afterward  say,  "I  did  not  learn  all  my  the- 
ology at  once."  The  beginning  with  him  was 
feeble,  and,  the  .sincerity  of  his  heart  excepted, 
was  of  a  very  unpromising  character. 


Section  III. —  Talcing  the  Vow — Second  Year  in  the  Cloister. 
150G. 

Such  was  Luther's  year  of  probation;  a  year  in 
which  he  experienced  some  gratification  in  the 
study,  however  defective,  of  the  Scriptures  which 
he  loved ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  was  disappointed 
in  respect  to  what  was  of  the  highest  concern  to 
him,  namely,  obtaining  peace  within  himself.  If 
it  excite  our  wTonder  that  he  did  not,  at  this  time, 
while  it  was  in  his  power,  and  before  taking  the 
irrevocable  vow,  determine  to  abandon  the  monas- 
tic life,  and  return  to  the  university,  or  seek  some 
other  occupation,  there  are  other  considerations 
which  may  remove  our  surprise.  Luther's  mind 
was  of  too  determined  a  character  to  be  turned 
from  its  course  by  any  slight  considerations,  lie 
had  been  trained  in. the  school  of  adversity,  and 
could  courageously  bear  the  privations  and  suffer- 
ings attendant  on  his  present  mode  of  life.  The 
subject  of  religion  interested  him  more  than  all 
others,  and  to  this  he  could  give  his  undivided 
attention  here  more  easily  than  elsewhere.    Here, 


94  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1505-1508. 

too,  he  found  a  few  friends,  such  as  Usingen,  his 
former  teacher,  Lange,  whom  he  assisted  in  study, 
and  the  excellent  Siisse,  who  is  said  to  have  been 
his  room-mate.  If  his  mind  had  as  yet  found  no 
rest,  possibly  a  longer  trial,  after  actually  taking 
the  vow,  might  prove  more  effectual.  Certainly 
a  return  to  the  world  would  imply  a  want  of  firm- 
ness, and  would,  besides,  promise  no  better  results. 
Even  if  there  had  been  no  disgrace  attached  to 
leaving  the  cloister  at  the  close  of  the  novitiate, 
this  would  probably  have  made  no  difference  with 
Luther,  who  seems  to  have  made  up  his  mind 
from  the  beginning.  Speaking  of  the  unsuccessful 
attempt  of  the  friends  who  endeavoured  to  keep 
him  from  entering  the  monastery,  he  says,  "  Thus 
did  I  abide  by  my  purpose,  thinking  never  again 
to  come  out  of  the  cloister." 

The  rules  of  the  order  prescribed  that  the  prior 
should,  at  the  close  of  the  year  of  probation,  exa- 
mine the  novice  as  to  his  being  worthy  of  admis- 
sion. If  the  result  was  favourable,  the  bell  was 
to  be  rung  and  the  monks  to  assemble,  and  the 
prior  to  take  his  place  before  the  steps  at  the 
altar,  and  to  address  the  kneeling  novice  in  the 
following  words  :  "  You  have  become  acquainted 
with  the  severe  life  of  our  order,  and  must  now 
decide  whether  you  will  return  to  the  world,  or 
be  consecrated  to  the  order."  If  the  answer  was 
in  favour  of  the  latter,  the  individual  was  directed 
to  put  off  the  garb  of  the  novice,  and  the  part  of 
the  service  beginning  with  the  words,  "  Our  help 
is  in  the  name  of  the  Lord,"  was  repeated,  where- 
upon the  prior  laid  the  monk's  apparel  upon  him, 


M.  21-25.]  TAKING    THE  VOW.  95 

and  then  the  ceremonies  were  very  similar  to 
those  of  entering  the  novitiate,  described  above. 
The  vow  was  taken,  in  connection  with  the  impo- 
sition of  the  hands  of  the  prior,  in  these  words, 
as  reported  by  Cochlaeus  :  "  I,  brother  Martin,  do 
make  profession  and  promise  obedience  unto  Al- 
mighty God,  unto  Mary  always  a  virgin,  and  unto 
thee,  my  brother,  the  prior  of  this  cloister,  in  the 
name  and  in  the  stead  of  the  general  prior  of  the 
order  of  the  Eremites  of  St.  Augustine,  the  bishop 
and  of  his  regular  successors,  to  live  in  poverty 
and  chastity,  after  the  rule  of  the  said  St.  Au- 
gustine, until  death."  Then  a  burning  taper  was 
put  into  his  hand,  prayer  was  offered  for  him  by 
the  prior,  and  the  brethren  sung  the  hymn,  Veni 
Sancte  Spiritus,  "  Come,  Holy  Spirit,"  after  which 
the  new  brother  was  conducted  by  them  to  the 
choir  of  the  church,  and  received  of  them  the 
fraternal  kiss. 

The  most  extravagant  ideas  were  entertained 
of  the  effect  of  such  a  formal  consecration  to  a 
monastic  life.  As  baptism  was  supposed  to  take 
away  all  sin,  so  this  monastic  baptism,  (as  the 
initiation  was  called,)  was  said  to  be  equally 
efficacious,  and  to  have  even  a  greater  sanctity. 
Hence  Luther  was  congratulated  on  the  present 
occasion  as  being,  by  his  own  act,  freed  from  sin 
and  introduced  into  a  state  of  primeval  innocence. 
With  this  he  felt  flattered  and  pleased  for  the 
moment,  but  upon  experiencing  its  utter  futility, 
he  came  at  length  to  regard  it  as  "  a  pill  of  in- 
fernal poison,  sugared  over  on  the  outside."  In 
his  brief  reply  to  George,  Duke  of  Saxon v,  ho 


96  LIFE   OF  LUTHER.  [1505-1508. 

said:  ''That  the  monks  likened  their  monastic 
life  to  Christian  baptism,  they  cannot  deny ;  for 
thus  have  they  taught  and  practised,  throughout, 
in  all  the  world.  When  I  made  my  profession,  I 
was  congratulated  by  the  prior,  the  convent  and 
the  confessor,  that  I  was  now  innocent  as  a  child 
which  had  just  come  forth  pure  from  its  baptism. 
And  verily  I  could  heartily  rejoice  over  such  a 
glorious  deed, — that  I  was  such  an  excellent  one, 
who  could,  by  his  own  works,  without  the  blood 
of  Christ,  make  himself  so  good  and  holy,  and 
that  too  so  easily  and  so  quickly.  But  though 
I  could  hear  with  satisfaction  such  sweet  praise 
and  shining  words  concerning  my  own  doings,  and 
let  myself  pass  for  a  wonder-worker,  who  could, 
in  such  a  wanton  manner,  make  himself  holy  and 
devour  both  death  and  the  devil,  yet  would  it 
fail  when  it  came  to  the  trial.  For  when  only  a 
small  temptation  of  death  or  of  sin  came  upon  me, 
I  fell  away,  and  found  no  succour  either  in  bap- 
tism or  in  the  monastic  state.  Then  was  I  the 
most  miserable  man  on  earth ;  day  and  night 
there  was  nothing  but  lamentation  and  despair, 
from  which  no  one  could  deliver  me.  So  I  was 
bathed  and  baptized  in  my  monasticism,  and  verily 
had  the  sweating  sickness." 

Luther  was  three  years  in  the  cloister  at  Erfurt. 
Of  his  employments  and  of  his  state  of  mind  dur- 
ing the  first  year,  or  the  year  of  his  novitiate,  we 
have  already  had  an  account.  During  the  second 
year,  with  which  we  are  now  concerned,  he  was 
devoted  to  the  study  of  the  scholastic  theology 
and  to  his  preparation  for  the   priesthood.     His 


M.  21-25.]       SECOND  YEAR  IN  THE  CLOISTER.  97 

religious  feelings  continued  of  the  same  character, 
substantially,  as  in  the  first  year,  except  that  his 
anxieties  and  his  sorrows  increased.  It  was  not 
till  the  third  year,  the  year  of  his  priesthood, 
that  new  views  on  the  subject  of  works  and  of 
justification  shed  light  upon  his  mind  and  joy 
upon  his  path,  and  not  till  after  that  change  did 
he  take  up  the  study  of  the  early  Christian  fathers. 

Here  then  we  have  the  means  of  deciding,  in 
most  cases,  to  Avhich  of  these  three  periods  his 
numerous  allusions  to  his  monastic  life  in  Er- 
furt refer.  If,  in  any  passage,  there  be  a  refer- 
ence to  the  duties  of  the  priestly  office,  saying 
mass,  for  example,  or  to  the  study  of  Augustine 
and  other  church  fathers,  or  to  more  cheerful  and 
confiding  feelings  in  respect  to  God,  as  a  loving 
father  rather  than  as  a  stern  revenger,  and  to 
Christ,  as  a  compassionate  saviour  rather  than 
as  a  dreaded  judge,  we  may  safely  apply  the  pas- 
sage to  the  last  year  of  Luther's  residence  in 
Erfurt.  If  a  state  of  bodily  and  mental  suffer- 
ing be  alone  referred  to,  it  is  doubtful  whether 
Luther  had  the  first  or  second  year  in  mind. 
But  if  harsh  treatment  or  the  regular  study  of 
the  Scriptures  be  mentioned  in  the  same  connec- 
tion, the  first  year  is  thereby  indicated ;  whereas 
if  occupation  with  the  scholastic  theologians  and 
with  works  which  treat  of  the  duties  of  the  priest- 
hood be  alluded  to,  the  second  year  only  can  be 
meant. 

Of  the  personal  appearance  of  Luther  about  the 
time  of  this  second  year,  probably  near  its  close, 
(this  being  the  time  of  his  most  intense  mental 


98  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1505-1508. 

anguish,)  we  have  a  representation  in  a  portrait 
taken  in  1572,  preserved  in  a  church  at  Weimar, 
when  the  artist  had  the  means  of  ascertaining 
how  Luther  appeared  at  the  time  referred  to. 
This  is  furthermore  supported  by  a  letter  of  Lu- 
ther's, in  which  he  describes  his  features  as  they 
then  were.  The  youthful  flush  had  disappeared 
from  his  countenance.  His  black,  piercing  and 
fiery  eye  was  now  sunken.  His  small  and  plump 
face  had  become  thin  and  spare,  and  with  all  his 
sadness  and  dejection  there  was  a  solemn  earnest- 
ness in  his  mien,  and  his  look  bespoke  a  mind  in 
conflict  and  yet  determined. 

It  was,  no  doubt,  either  during  the  latter  part 
of  the  preceding  year,  or  near  the  beginning  of 
this,  that  Staupitz,  general  vicar  or  provincial  of 
the  order  in  Germany,  on  one  of  his  visitations 
to  examine  into  the  state  of  the  several  cloisters 
under  his  care,  first  had  his  attention  attracted 
to  Luther.  By  the  rules  of  the  order,  drawn  up 
by  himself,  it  was  made  his  duty,  as  general 
vicar,  to  visit  the  convents  for  the  purpose  of 
seeing  that  a  paternal  discipline  was  maintained, 
and  particularly  to  inquire  in  respect  to  the  care 
taken  of  the  sick,  the  instruction  given  to  novices, 
and  the  observance  of  the  fasts  and  other  pre- 
scribed duties.  Staupitz  was  a  model  which  all 
provincials  might  well  imitate.  He  made  it  his 
concern  to  promote  the  study  of  the  Bible,  though 
his  efforts  were  not  always  seconded  by  others, 
and  to  seek  out  and  encourage  young  men  of 
la  lent  and  of  elevated  religious  character,  and  to 
inspire  them,  as  far  as  possible,  with  a  sincere 


JR.  21-25.]      SECOND  YEAR  IN  THE  CLOISTER.  99 

love  of  God  and  of  man.  Such  a  person  as  Lu- 
ther,— learned,  able,  ardent,  perplexed,  abused, 
and  sinking  both  in  health  and  in  spirits, — could 
not  escape  his  notice.  His  singular  attachment 
to  the  Bible  was  no  less  gratifying  than  it  was 
surprising  to  Staupitz.  "  The  monks,"  says  Lu- 
ther,  "did  not  study  the  Scriptures-,  save  here  and 
there  one,  who  like  myself  took  singular  delig] it 
therein.  Often  did  I  read  them  in  the  cloister, 
to  the  great  astonishment  of  Doctor  Staupitz." 

Here  commenced  the  most  important  acquaint- 
ance which  Luther  ever  formed.  Staupitz,  at 
once,  after  knowing  the  character  of  the  young 
monk,  directed  the  prior  to  have  more  regard  to 
his  standing  and  previous  habits,  and  to  release 
him  from  those  humiliating  and  onerous  tasks 
which  had  been  imposed  upon  him.  He,  at  the 
same  time,  encouraged  Luther  to  prosecute  the 
study  of  the  Scriptures  with  unabated  zeal,  till 
he  should  be  able  to  turn  readily  to  any  passage 
that  should  be  named.  Luther  now,  for  the  first 
time,  found  a  spiritual  guide  who  was,  in  every 
essential  respect,  qualified  to  treat  such  critical 
cases  as  his, — one  who,  in  his  comprehensive 
view,  recognised  as  well  the  laws  of  the  physical 
and  the  mental  constitution  as  the  fundamental 
principles  of  the  gospel.  A  varied  order  of  liv- 
ing and  new  trains  of  thought,  originating  in  sug- 
gestions respecting  the  true  nature  of  Christian- 
ity, which  were  then  as  strange  as  those  which 
were  once  made  to  the  two  disciples  on  the  way 
to  Emmaus,  were  the  beginnings  of  a  healthful 
process,  which  ultimately  wrought  a  complete  re- 


100  LIFE   OF  LUTHER.  [1505-1508. 

ligious  revolution  in  Luther's  mind,  and  laid,  in 
his  personal  experience,  the  foundation  for  the 
Reformation.  In  a  letter  to  Staupitz  in  1523, 
he  says,  "  I  ought  not  to  be  unmindful  or  for- 
getful of  you,  through  whom  the  light  of  the  gos- 
pel first  began  to  shine  out  of  darkness  into  our 
hearts." 

John  von  Staupitz  was  descended  from  an  an- 
cient noble  family  of  Meissen  or  Misnia  in  the 
kingdom  of  Saxony.  In  order  to  gratify  his  love 
of  study  and  pious  meditation,  he  became  an  Au- 
gustinian  monk,  and  in  various  universities  went 
through  an  extended  course  of  scholastic  philoso- 
phy and  theology.  In  1497,  he  was  made  master 
of  arts,  lector  or  public  reader  of  his  order,  and 
connected  himself  with  the  University  of  Tubin- 
gen, in  the  south  of  Germany.  He  rose  rapidly 
to  distinction;  for  in  the  following  year  he  was 
appointed  prior  of  the  convent  of  Tubingen;  in 
the  next,  he  took  the  degree  of  biblical  bachelor, 
or  the  first  degree  in  theology,  that  of  sententiary, 
or  the  second  degree,  and  in  1500,  that  of  doctor 
of  divinity. 

Early  disgusted  with  the  dry  and  unprofita- 
ble speculations  of  the  scholastic  theologians,  he 
turned  his  attention  to  what  are  called  the  mysti- 
cal theologians,  or  the  spiritual  and  experimental 
Christians  of  that  as;e.  Bernard  and  Gerson  were 
his  favourite  authors,  men  in  whom  a  spirit  not 
unlike  that  of  the  pious  Thomas  a,  Kempis  pre- 
vailed. The  influence  of  some  of  the  professors 
at  Tubingen,  especially  of  Sommerhard,  united  to 
that  of  the  writers  above  named,  led  him  to  ap- 


M.  21-25.]        SECOND  YEAR  IN  THE  CLOISTER.  101 

predate  the  Bible  more  highly  than  any  other 
book,  and  to  look  to  that  as  his  only  safe  guide 
in  religion  and  the  only  sure  foundation  of  Chris- 
tian theology.  "  It  is  needful  for  us,"  says  Stau- 
pitz,  "to  study  the  Holy  Scriptures  with  the 
greatest  diligence  and  with  all  humility,  and 
earnestly  to  pray  that  we  fail  not  of  the  truth 
of  the  gospel."  He  regarded  that  principle  of 
love  which  the  Holy  Spirit  originates  in  us,  and 
which  produces  a  union  with  Christ  by  faith,  as 
constituting  the  essence  of  religion.  This  is  not 
produced  by  any  good  works  of  ours,  but  is  itself 
the  producer  of  all  good  works.  Our  piety,  there- 
fore, does  not  depend  on  the  performance  of  rites 
and  ceremonies  prescribed  by  the  church,  nor  can 
it  be  estimated  by  such  a  standard;  but  it  de- 
pends on  the  state  of  the  heart  and  on  the  exer- 
cise of  the  spiritual  affections.  Our  union  with 
the  church  is  not  the  cause  of  our  union  with 
Christ,  but  vice  versa.  "First,  God  giveth  unto 
all  the  faithful  one  heart  and  one  soul  in  him,  and 
on  this  wise  uniteth  them  together,  and  of  this 
cometh  the  unity  of  the  church.'' 

These  are  some  of  the  characteristic  features 
of  the  piety  and  faith  of  Staupitz;  and  in  them 
we  cannot  fail  to  recognise  the  undeveloped 
germs  of  salvation  by  grace  ami  justification  by 
faith  in  Christ,  as  afterward  maintained  by  his 
greater  disciple.  Such  a  spirit  was  the  very 
opposite  of  that  which  animated  Tetzel  in  the 
sale  of  indulgences. 

When,  in  1")02,  the  Elector  Frederic  of  Saxony 
founded  the  University  of  Wittenberg,  he   em- 


102  LIFE    OF    LUTHER.  [1505-1508. 

ployed  Staupitz  first  as  a  counsellor  and  nego- 
tiator, and  then  as  a  dean  or  superintendent  of 
the  theological  faculty.  In  the  next  year,  the 
chapter  of  the  order  chose  him  general  vicar; 
and  it  was  in  this  capacity  that  he  was  brought 
into  connection  with  Luther.  His  influence  upon 
the  cloisters  under  his  charge  was  of  the  happiest 
kind;  and  his  efforts  to  promote  biblical  studies, 
and  to  revive  the  spirituality  of  his  brethren,  no 
doubt  prepared,  in  part,  the  way  for  multitudes 
of  them  to  embrace  the  doctrines  of  Luther. 
The  testimony  of  the  latter  to  his  worth  may 
properly  have  place  here :  "  He  was  an  estima- 
ble man ;  not  only  worthy  to  be  listened  to  with 
reverence,  as  a  scholar,  in  seats  of  learning  and 
in  the  church;  but  also  at  the  court  of  princes 
and  in  the  society  of  the  great,  he  was  held  in 
much  estimation  for  his  knowledge  of  the  world." 
From  the  nature  of  the  case,  we  could  not  sup- 
pose that  the  first  interview  of  Staupitz  with  Lu- 
ther could  produce  any  great  and  sudden  change 
in  the  latter.  At  that  time  they  were  attached 
to  opposite  systems  of  theology,  the  mystic  and 
the  scholastic ;  and  Luther's  views  were  so  inter- 
woven with  his  entire  character  and  previous 
training,  that  they  could  not  be  surrendered  with- 
out many  an  inward  struggle.  Now  we  are  ex- 
pressly informed  by  Melancthon  that  Luther's 
mind  did  not  find  relief  till  after  he  commenced 
the  study  of  the  Christian  fathers  ;  and  we  learn 
elsewhere  that  this  did  not  take  place  till  the 
third  year  of  his  residence  in  the  cloister  of  Er- 
furt,    Consequently,  there   was    an   interval   of 


M.  121-2--).]       SECOND  YEAR  IN  THE  CLOISTER.  103 

nearly  a  year  at  least,  and,  according  to  the  com- 
mon view,  (namely,  that  Staupitz  saw  Luther 
during  his  novitiate,)  an  interval  of  nearly  two 
years  between  their  first  acquaintance  and  the 
conversion  of  Luther  to  the  evangelical  faith. 

From  all  the  circumstances  of  the  case,  we  are 
not  allowed  to  suppose  that  Staupitz,  at  the  first 
interview,  did  more  than  to  gain  some  general 
information  in  respect  to  Luther's  character  and 
condition,  and  make  a  few  suggestions  and  leave 
them  to  their  effect.  But  though  the  general 
vicar  was  well  grounded  in  the  truth,  and  the 
young  monk  almost  equally  fortified  in  error, 
there  was  one  point  of  strong  sympathy  between 
them,  and  that  was  the  love  of  the  Bible.  But 
at  this  time  the  Bible  was  to  Luther  a  very  dark 
book.  It  came  to  him  in  his  spiritual  ignorance, 
almost  buried  under  the  rubbish  of  the  papal 
glosses.  The  gospel  itself  was  turned  into  law; 
Christ  was  but  a  second  Moses,  a  stern  legislator 
and  judge,  from  whom  the  oppressed  sinner  fled 
in  terror,  because  he  had  not  a  sufficient  right- 
eousness of  his  own,  and  knew  nothing  of  the 
justifying  righteousness  of  Christ.  Such  was  the 
state  in  which  Staupitz  found  Luther. 

Instead  of  proceeding  from  a  consciousness  of 
the  necessity  of  redemption  and  gratuitous  justi- 
fication to  the  ascertainment  of  its  reality  and 
availableness,  the  benighted  though  learned  young 
monk  went  back,  in  a  contrary  direction,  to  specu- 
late upon  the  origin  and  nature  of  evil,  and  upon 
the  mysteries  of  Providence,  over  which  lay  a 
pall  of  still  denser  darkness.     Thus  he  was  some- 


104  LIFE  OF  LUTHER.  [1505-1508. 

times  subject  to  the  keenest  despair,  and  some- 
times to  the  most  distressing  thoughts.  "Why," 
said  Staupitz  to  him,  "  do  you  vex  yourself  with 
these  speculations  and  high  thoughts  ?  Look  upon 
the  wounds  of  Christ  and  upon  the  blood  which  he 
shed  for  you.  From  these  will  the  counsels  of 
God  shine  forth."  That  is,  in  the  cross  of  Christ 
is  the  best  solution  of  the  mysteries  of  Providence 
in  respect  to  the  eternal  destinies  of  men.  This  un- 
doubtedly took  place  at  the  first  confession  which 
Luther  made  to  Staupitz  as  the  general  vicar. 

The  scene,  according  to  Luther,  was  equally 
surprising  to  both  parties.  Such  a  confession, 
going  so  deeply  into  the  nature  of  sin  as  con- 
sisting not  so  much  in  single  acts  as  in  a  moral 
state ;  a  confession  of  the  doubts  and  daring  spe- 
culations of  a  great  mind  abused  in  its  religious 
training,  and  consequently  in  a  perfectly  chaotic 
state,  Staupitz  had  never  before  heard.  Luther 
knew  no  better  what  to  make  of  the  unexpected 
and  strange  directions  given  him  by  Staupitz. 
No  name  was  more  terrific  to  him  than  that  of 
Christ,  an  avenger  and  a  judge,  to  whom  he  did 
not  dare  to  approach  without  first  preparing  the 
way  by  engaging  in  his  behalf  the  more  tender 
sympathies  of  the  virgin  mother,  to  soften  the 
severities  of  her  Divine  Son.  In  a  sermon  of 
his,  first  published  in  1547,  Luther  says,  "Under 
the  papacy  I  fled  from  Christ,  and  trembled  at 
his  name ;  .  .  .  for  I  looked  upon  him  as  a  judge 
only  ;  and  in  this  grievously  erred.  St.  Bernard, 
otherwise  a  godly  man,  said  :  '  Behold,  in  all  the 
gospel,  how  sharply  Christ  often  rebuketh,  up- 


M.  21-25.]       SECOND  YEAR  IN  THE  CLOISTER.  105 

braideth  and  condemneth  the  Pharisees,  and  flieth 
at  them,  while  the  Virgin  Mary  is  ever  gentle  and 
kind,  and  never  spoke  or  uttered  one  hard  word.' 
From  hence  arose  the  opinion  that  Christ  re- 
proacheth  and  rebuketh,  while  Mary  is  all  sweet- 
ness and  love." 

The  first  confession  only  created  mutual  sur- 
prise, and  Luther  was  still  left  in  his  sadness. 
This  we  learn  from  an  occurrence  that  seems  to 
have  taken  place  soon  after.  At  table,  Staupitz, 
seeing  Luther  still  downcast  and  clouded  with 
gloom,  said  to  him,  "  Why  are  you  in  such  heavi- 
ness, brother  Martin?"  "Alas!"  replied  Luther, 
"  what  then  am  I  to  do?"  Staupitz  rejoined,  "I 
have  never  had  knowledge  nor  experience  of  such 
temptations ;  but  so  far  forth  as  I  can  perceive, 
they  are  more  needful  for  }^ou  than  your  food 
and  drink.  You  know  not  how  salutary  and  ne- 
cessary they  are  for  you.  God  bringeth  them 
not  upon  you  without  a  purpose.  Without  them, 
nothing  good  would  come  of  you.  You  will  yet 
see  that  God  hath  great  things  to  accomplish 
through  }rou."  Numerous  passages  in  Luther's 
later  writings  were  evidently  suggested  by  his 
own  experience  as  here  described.  One  will  here 
suffice  as  a  specimen:  "When  the  heart  of  man 
is  in  great  anguish,  either  the  Spirit  of  God  must 
needs  give  him  gracious  assurance,  or  there  must 
be  a  godly  friend  to  comfort  him  and  take  from 
him  his  doubts  by  the  word  of  God/'  But  as 
we  afterward  find  Luther  in  his  former  state  of 
mind,  and  devoting  himself  with  more  zeal  than 
ever  to  the  study  of  the  scholastic  writers,  we 


106  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1505-1508. 

must  conclude  that  no  great  and  permanent  change 
was  effected  in  his  religious  views  during  Stau- 
pitz's  first  visit. 


SECTION  IV. — Luther  studies  the  Scholastic  Theology. 

The  effect  of  Staupitz's  influence  was  delayed 
by  the  fact  that,  according  to  the  usages  of  the 
order  which  he  could  not  think  of  setting  aside, 
the  monk  who  had  finished  his  biblical  studies, 
as  they  were  improperly  called,  was  to  direct  his 
chief  attention  next  to  the  scholastic  theology. 
Staupitz  was  not  the  man  for  energetic  or  vio- 
lent reform ;  and  Usingen,  whose  influence  in  the 
Erfurt  convent  was  now  great  and  who  was  pro- 
bably Luther's  preceptor  at  this  time,  was  a  zeal- 
ous scholastic.  Luther  himself  says,  "  When  I 
had  taken  the  vow,  they  took  the  Bible  from  me 
again  and  gave  me  the  sophistical  books.  But 
as  often  as  I  could,  I  would  hide  myself  in  the 
library,  and  give  my  mind  to  the  Bible." 

Luther,  who  never  shrank  from  a  task  because 
it  was  hard  or  disagreeable,  but,  on  the  contrary, 
with  a  consciousness  of  his  power,  took  pleasure 
in  its  full  exercise,  now  studied  with  iron  dili- 
gence the  sentences  of  the  Fathers,  as  collected 
into  digests  by  the  schoolmen.  Biel  and  D'Ailly 
he  is  said  to  have  learned  by  heart.  With  the 
writings  of  Occam,  Aquinas  and  Scotus,  he  made 
himself  very  familiar. 

Here  Ave  find  Luther  in  a  new  conflict — his  own 
inclination  and  religious  wants,  together  with  the 
influence  of  Staupitz,  leading  him  to  the  Bible; 


M.  21-25.]     PREPARATION  FOR  THE  PRIESTHOOD.  107 

the  influence  of  the  convent  and  his  occupation 
with  the  scholastic  writers,  on  the  other  hand, 
strengthening  the  false  impressions  under  which 
he  had  grown  up.  Both  these  contending  ele- 
ments were  having  their  effect  upon  Luther,  and 
he  was  to  be  prepared  for  his  great  work  by  feel- 
ing the  full  power  and  coming  to  a  complete  know- 
ledge of  each. 


Section  V. — Luther  s  Preparation  for  the  Priesthood. 

This  also  constituted  a  part  of  Luther's  occu- 
pation during  his  second  year  in  the  monastery. 
Biel,  the  last  of  the  scholastics,  his  favourite 
author,  was  the  writer  most  studied  on  this  sub- 
ject. In  what  follows,  it  will  be  made  to  appear 
that  such  employment,  no  less  than  the  study  of 
the  scholastic  writers  in  general,  was  adapted  to 
carry  him  further  and  further  from  the  Bible  and 
the  spiritualism  of  Staupitz,  and  to  involve  him 
more  deeply  than  ever  in  the  labyrinth  of  papal 
error.  We  find  here  a  striking  analogy  to  the 
mazes  of  error  through  which  the  great  Augus- 
tine passed,  when,  half  in  despair  and  half  in 
docile  submission,  he  was  conducted,  step  by  step, 
through  the  hollow  and  deceitful  system  of  the 
Manicheans.  The  church  service  with  which  the 
priest  was  concerned  was  a  complicated  system 
of  symbolical  acts,  at  the  same  time  exercising 
the  ingenuity  and  furnishing  ample  materials  for 
exciting  the  imagination  of  the  students.  The 
central  point  in  the  system  was  the  service  of 
mass.     To  this  the  selected  passages  of  Scrip- 


108  LIFE    OF    LUTHER.  [1.305-1508. 

ture,  their  arrangement,  the  prayers  and  the 
hymns  all  referred.  The  antiphonies  and  the 
priestly  ornaments  both  relate  to  the  sacrificial 
offering  in  the  mass.  The  rites  themselves  were 
sacred  mysteries,  and  the  officiating  priest  a 
sacred  person.  Luther  never  lost  the  impres- 
sion which  these  imposing  and  solemn,  though 
false,  forms  of  worship  made  upon  him.  Christ 
was  considered  as  daily  repeating  the  offering  up 
of  himself. 

Biel  had  written  an  extended  work  on  the 
mass-service,  which  was  adopted  as  a  text-book 
in  the  monasteries.  He  there  teaches,  that  men 
must  repair  to  the  saints,  through  whose  inter- 
cessions we  are  to  be  saved ;  that  the  Father  has 
given  over  one-half  of  his  kingdom  to  the  Virgin, 
the  queen  of  heaven ;  that  of  the  two  attributes  of 
justice  and  mercy,  he  has  surrendered  the  latter 
to  her,  while  he  retains  the  former.  The  priest 
is  intercessor  between  God  and  man.  He  offers 
the  sacrifice  of  Christ  in  the  supper,  and  can 
extend  its  efficacy  to  others.  This  neither  the 
Virgin  Mary  nor  the  angels  can  do. 

In  another  part  of  the  work,  Biel  has  several 
nice  disquisitions  on  such  questions  as,  whether 
the  bread  must  always  be  made  of  wheat ;  how 
much  ought  to  be  consecrated  at  a  time ;  what 
would  be  the  effect  of  a  grammatical  blunder  on  the 
part  of  the  priest  in  repeating  the  words.  Thus 
Luther  was  trained  by  daily  study  to  a  system  of 
practical  religion  which  subsequently,  when  he 
was  more  enlightened,  became  abhorrent  to  all  the 
feelings  ol  his  heart.     "Let  any  one,"  he  says, 


M.  21-25.]        PREPARATION  FOR  THE  PRIESTHOOD.         109 

"read  Biel  on  the  Canonical  Constitutions  con- 
cerning the  mass,  which  is  nevertheless  the  best 
book  of  the  Papists  on  that  matter,  and  see  what 
execrable  things  are  therein  contained.  That  was 
once  my  book."  Again:  "Gabriel  Biel  wrote  a 
book  on  the  Canonical  Constitutions,  which  was 
looked  upon  as  the  best  in  these  times ;  .  .  .  when 
I  read  it,  my  heart  did  bleed,"  that  is,  was  in  an- 
guish from  the  scruples  which  it  caused  in  respect 
to  the  duties  of  the  priesthood. 

The  rules  laid  down  were  carried  to  an  astonish- 
ing minuteness  of  detail,  and  the  least  deviation 
from  them  was  represented  as  highly  sinful.  Lu- 
ther was  so  conscious  of  his  sinfulness,  that  he 
often  despaired  of  ever  being  able  to  officiate  wor- 
thily as  a  priest.  We,  in  this  age,  cannot  appre- 
ciate his  feelings  in  this  respect,  unless  we  place 
ourselves,  in  imagination,  precisely  in  his  circum- 
stances, and  learn  with  him  to  feel  a  creeping 
horror  at  the  ghostly  superstitions  of  the  times. 
His  own  language  will  best  transport  us  to  the 
gloomy  cell  and  its  spiritual  terrors,  and  to  the 
chapel  with  its  over-awing  mysteries.  "Those 
priests,"  he  remarks,  "  who  were  right  earnest  in 
religion,  were  so  terrified  in  pronouncing  the 
words  of  Christ,  delivered  at  the  institution  of 
the  supper,  that  they  trembled  and  quaked  when 
they  came  to  the  clause,  <  This  is  my  body ;'  for 
they  must  repeat  every  word  without  the  least 
error.  He  who  stammered,  or  omitted  a  word, 
was  guilty  of  a  great  sin.  He  was,  moreover,  to 
pronounce  the  words  without  any  wandering 
thoughts."     Again  he  says,  "  It  was  declared  a 


10 


110  LIFE    OF   LUTHER,  [1505-1508. 

mortal  sin  to  leave  out  the  word  enim,  (for,)  or 
aeterni,  (eternal.)  If  one  had  forgotten  whether 
he  had  pronounced  a  certain  word  or  not,  he  could 
not  make  the  matter  sure  by  repetition.  .  .  .  Here 
was  distress  and  anguish.  .  .  .  How  sorely  were 
we  vexed  with  the  mass,  especially  with  the  signs 
of  the  cross!"  About  fifty  of  these  and  some 
hundreds  of  other  prescribed  motions  of  the  body 
were  to  be  punctiliously  observed  in  the  mass-ser- 
vice. Special  rules  were  given  as  to  what  was  to 
be  done  if  a  little  of  the  wine  were  spilled.  No- 
thing can  give  us  a  better  impression  of  the  awe 
which  the  idea  of  Christ's  real  presence  inspired 
than  an  incident  which  occurred  but  four  years 
before  Luther's  death.  In  the  year  1542,  during 
the  celebration  of  the  Eucharist,  some  drops  of 
the  wine  were  accidentally  spilled.  Luther,  Bu- 
genhagen  and  the  officiating  minister  sprang  in- 
stantly and  licked  it  up  with  their  tongues  !  If 
such  were  the  feelings  with  which  the  reformer 
noticed  any  little  irregularity  in  this  service  in 
his  old  age,  what  must  they  have  been  when  he 
was  timidly  preparing  himself  to  become  a  Catholic 
priest? 

In  the  mass  itself,  every  thing  is  Jewish  and 
legal.  Christ's  original  sacrifice  is  regarded  as 
atoning  only  for  original  sin;  all  other  sins  were 
to  be  atoned  for  in  the  mass.  Through  the  inter- 
cession of  the  saints,  the  sacrament  effects  an 
ablution  from  all  actual  sin,  a  defence  against  all 
dangers,  against  all  the  evils  incident  to  the  body 
or  the  mind,  against  the  assaults  of  Satan,  and  a 
remission  of  the  sins  of  the  dead  as  well  as  of  the 


JE.  21-25.]  CONSECRATION   AS   PRIEST.  HI 

living.  How  strangely  is  Christ  here  thrown  into 
the  back-ground,  and  saints  and  priests  raised  to 
an  impious  eminence !  How  is  the  cross  of  Christ 
obscured,  and  an  empty  rite,  a  human  invention, 
covered  with  the  halo  of  a  divine  glory! 

SECTION  VI. — Luther's  Consecration  as  Priest  in  1507. 

The  day  appointed  for  his  ordination  as  priest, 
the  2d  of  May,  1507,  at  length  arrived.  Such  a 
day  was  of  too  solemn  interest,  as  it  was  observed 
at  that  time,  to  be  allowed  to  pass  without  the 
presence  of  Luther's  father,  who  had  continued 
during  nearly  the  whole  period  of  two  years  to 
be  alienated  from  the  son  in  consequence  of  his 
entering  the  monastery.  It  is  a  mistake  com- 
mitted by  several  biographers  of  Luther,  to  re- 
present the  reconciliation,  and  even  the  visit  of 
John  Luther  at  the  convent,  as  having  taken  place 
in  1505,  a  short  time  after  Luther  entered  his 
novitiate.  Martin  was  his  father's  favourite  son. 
He  had  been  sent  to  the  university  and  supported 
there  by  the  father's  hard  earnings,  in  order  thai 
he  might  become  a  learned  jurist  and  rise  to  dis- 
tinction. His  brilliant  career  as  a  student,  and 
then  as  a  teacher,  and  his  entrance,  under  favour- 
able circumstances,  upon  the  study  of  the  law, 
served  only  to  give  poignancy  to  a  father's  grief, 
when  he  saw  that  all  his  high  hopes  were  to  be 
disappointed.  He  was  so  chagrined  that  he  re- 
fused to  see  his  son.  On  the  death  of  two  other 
sons,  who  were  carried  off  by  the  plague,  and  on 
the  intelligence  that  Martin  had  also  died  of  the 


112  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [150u~lo08. 

same,  his  heart  began  to  relent.  His  friends  took 
that  opportunity  to  reason  with  him,  and  to  con- 
vince him  that  he  ought  to  be  willing  to  make  an 
offering  to  the  Lord  of  whatever  was  dearest  to 
him,  even  though  it  were  his  favourite  child.  To 
this  reasoning  he  never  assented,  entertaining,  as 
he  always  did,  unfavourable  views  of  monastic 
life;  but  he  became  so  far  reconciled  as  to  accept 
the  invitation  to  be  present  at  the  ordination. 
He  came  in  the  pomp  required  by  the  occasion, 
mounted  on  horseback  with  attendants,  twenty 
in  all,  and  honoured  his  son  with  a  present  of 
twenty  guldens.  It  was  "with  a  sad,  reluctant 
will,"  as  Luther  says,  that  his  father  finally  con- 
sented to  his  permanent  connection  with  a  reli- 
gious order.  "  Well,  be  it  so,"  was  his  language, 
"  God  grant  that  it  may  turn  out  for  good."  When 
they  were  all  seated  at  table,  at  the  time  of  the 
ordination,  Luther,  trusting  to  the  favourable  im- 
pressions produced  by  the  occasion,  and  to  the 
influence  of  the  company  around  him,  ventured 
to  touch  upon  the  delicate  subject  with  his  father, 
in  the  following  language:  "Dear  father,  what 
was  the  reason  of  thy  objecting  to  my  desire  to 
become  a  monk?  Why  wast  thou  then  so  dis- 
pleased; and  perhaps  not  reconciled  yet?  It  is 
such  a  peaceful  and  godty  life  to  live."  He  went 
on  to  recount  the  alarming  events  which  he  con- 
strued as  indications  of  the  divine  will,  and  was 
warmly  supported  in  all  he  said  by  the  monks  at 
his  side.  The  plain-spoken  and  honest  miner, 
nnt  withstanding  the  place  and  the  occasion,  boldly 
and  tersely  replied,  "Didst  thou  never  hear  that 


.E.  :U -25.]  CONSECRATION    AS    PEIEST.  113 

a  son  must  be  obedient  to  his  parents?  And  you 
learned  men,  did  you  never  read  in  the  Scrip- 
tures, 'Thou  shalt  honour  thy  father  and  thy 
mother?'  .  .  .  God  grant  that  those  signs  may 
not  prove  to  be  lying  wonders  of  Satan."  "Never," 
said  Luther  afterward,  "  did  words  sink  deeper 
into  a  man's  heart  than  did  these  of  my  father 
into  mine." 

The  sentiments  of  the  age,  in  respect  to  the 
ordination  of  a  priest,  must  be  kept  in  view,  if  we 
would  understand  Luther's  history  at  this  period, 
lie  himself  informs  us  that  "a  consecrated  priest 
was  as  much  above  an  ordinary  Christian  as  the 
morning  star  was  above  a  smoking  taper."  "  It 
was  a  glorious  thing  to  be  a  new  priest,  and  to 
hold  the  first  mass.  Blessed  the  mother  who  had 
borne  a  priest.  Father  and  mother  and  friends 
were  filled  with  joy."  The  first  mass  was  thought 
much  of,  and  brought  no  little  money,  for  the 
gifts  and  offerings  came  like  drops  of  rain.  The 
canonical  hours  were  then  observed  with  torch- 
lights. The  young  priest  danced  with  his  mother, 
if  she  was  still  living,  and  the  bystanders,  who 
looked  on,  wept  for  joy.  If  she  was  dead,  he 
delivered  her  from  purgatory. 

We  learn  from  Luther,  that  the  bishop  at  his 
ordination  gave  him  the  cup,  and  said  to  him, 
"Receive  power  to  oiler  sacrifice  lor  the  living 
and  the  dead,"  and  Luther  adds,  "It  is  a  wonder 
that  the  ground  did  not  open  and  swallow  us  both 
up."  The  words  which  Luther  was  then  to  em- 
ploy in  the  mass  service,  which  immediately  fol- 
lowed,  were,  "Accept,  holy  Father,  this  unble- 

10* 


114  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1505-1508. 

mishcd  sacrifice,  which  I,  thine  unworthy  servant, 
offer  unto  thee,  the  true  and  living  God,  for  my 
innumerable  sins,  offences  and  omissions,  and  for 
all  who  are  here  present,  and  for  all  believers  liv- 
ing, and  also  for  the  dead,  that  it  may  be  for  our 
salvation."  Luther  was  filled  with  trepidation 
and  fear,  and  faltered  in  the  service,  and  would 
have  left  the  altar,  which  would  have  occasioned 
his  excommunication,  if  his  preceptor,  who  was 
standing  by,  had  not  stopped  him.  It  was  the 
idea  of  "standing  before  God  without  a  medi- 
ator," as  he  had  been  taught  to  interpret  the  act, 
and  other  superstitious  fears  with  which  Bid's 
book  had  filled  his  head, — it  was  this  that  made 
him  pause  in  terror  when  he  came  to  the  words, 
"the  sacrifice  which  I  offer  unto  thee."  "From 
that  time  forth,"  says  Luther,  "  I  read  mass  with 
great  fear." 

Still  he  became  a  very  zealous  and  fanatical 
priest,  as  the  following  passages  from  his  writings 
clearly  show.  We  now  find  him  going  from  vil- 
lage to  village  "begging  cheese,"  and  "saying 
mass"  for  the  peasants,  and  sometimes -.."with 
difficulty  refraining  from  laughter"  at  the  blun- 
ders of  the  awkward  country  organists,  who,  as 
he  says,  would  introduce  the  wrong  piece  in  the 
midst  of  the  service.  How  false  the  principles 
were  upon  which  he  then  acted,  he  himself  after- 
ward strongly  testifies.  "I  was  an  unblushing 
Pharisee,  When  I  had  read  mass  and  said  my 
prayers,  I  put  my  trust  and  rested  therein.  I  did 
not  behold  the  sinner  that  lay  hidden  under  that 
cloak,  in  my  not  trusting  in  the  righteousness  of 


M.  21-25.]  CONSECRATION    AS    PRIEST.  115 

God,  but  in  my  own;  in  not  giving  God  thanks 
for  the  sacrament,  but  in  thinking  he  must  be 
thankful  and  well  pleased  that  I  offered  up  his 
Son  to  him,  that  is,  reproached  and  blasphemed 
him.  When  we  were  about  to  hold  mass,  we 
were  wont  to  say,  'Now  I  will  go  and  be  midwife 
to  the  Virgin.'  "  Did  we  not  know  that  the  worst 
of  abuses  can  be  practised  without  remorse  when 
false  principles  in  religion  are  adopted,  we  could 
scarcely  believe  that  such  representations  as  the 
following  could  be  made  in  sober  earnest  by  Lu- 
ther. "  Some  had  mass  in  order  to  become  rich, 
and  to  be  prosperous  in  their  worldly  business. 
Some,  because  they  thought  if  they  heard  mass  in 
the  morning,  then  would  they  be  secure  through 
all  the  day  against  every  suffering  and  peril. 
Some,  by  reason  of  sickness,  and  some  for  yet 
more  foolish  and  sinful  causes ;  and  they  could 
find  abject  priests,  who,  for  money,  would  let 
them  have  their  way.  Furthermore,  they  have 
put  a  difference  in  the  mass,  making  one  better 
for  this,  another  better  for  that  occasion,  by  in- 
venting the  seven-gulden  mass.*  The  mass  of 
the  holy  cross  has  a  different  virtue  from  the 
mass  of  the  virgin.  And  everybody  keeps  still 
and  lets  the  people  go  on,  for  the  sake  of  the 
accursed  lucre,  flowing  abundantly  through  the 
mass  which  has  so  many  names  and  virtues." 
"Here,  you  yourselves  know,  my  dear  sirs,"  says 
Luther  to  his  opponents  in  1-320,  '"what  a  scan- 
dalous trafficking  and  marketing  you  have  made 


*  A  Saxon  gulden  in  the  16th  century  was  about  sixty-two  and  a 

halt'  cents. 


116  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1505-1508. 

with  your  sacrament.  This  hath  been  the  regu- 
lar and  every-day  business  of  you  all,  buying 
and  selling  throughout  all  the  world  so  many 
thousands  of  masses  for  money,  some  for  a  gros- 
chen,  (three  cents,)  some  for  eight  pfennigs,  (two 
cents,)  and  some  for  six.  There  is  no  excusing 
nor  denying  it."  "  I  also,  when  I  was  a  monk, 
was  wont  daily  to  confess,  to  fast,  to  read,  to 
pray,  and  to  offer  sacrifice,  to  the  end  that,  from 
the  vigils,  mass  and  other  works,  I  could  impart 
and  sell  something  (merit)  to  the  laity.  The 
monks  bartered  their  merits  away  for  corn  and 
wine,  as  well  as  for  money,  and  gave  formal  re- 
ceipts, as  is  shown  by  many  copies  still  extant, 
which  ran  thus  :  '  In  consideration  of  one  bushel 
of  wheat,  Ave  by  this  writing  and  contract  make 
over  to  you  the  benefit  of  our  fastings,  watch- 
ings,  mortifications,  mass-services  and  such-like.' 
I,  an  arrant  Papist,  and  much  fiercer  mass-monger 
than  all  the  rest,  could  not  distinguish  between 
the  mass  and  the  sacrament  any  more  than  the 
common  people.  To  me  the  mass  and  the  sacra- 
ment upon  the  altar  were  one  and  the  same 
thing,  as  they  were  to  all  of  us  at  that  time. 
....  I  have  lain  sick  in  the  infirmary,  and 
viewed  Christ  in  no  other  light  than  that  of  a 
severe  judge,  whom    I  must  appease  with  my 

monastic  works Therefore,  my  way  and 

custom  was,  when  I  had  finished  my  prayers  or 
masSj  always  to  conclude  with  such  words  as 
these  :  '  My  dear  Jesus,  I  come  unto  thee  and 
entreat  thee  to  be  pleased  with  whatsoever  I  do 
and  suffer  in  my  order,  and  to  accept  it  as  a  com- 


JR.  21-25.]  CONSECRATION   AS   PRIEST.  117 

position  for  my  sins  ?  Twenty  years  ago,  if  any 
one  desired  mass,  he  should  have  come  and  pur- 
chased it  of  me;    I   cleaved   to  it  with  all  my 

heart    and    worshipped    it I    held    mass 

every  day,  and  knew  not  but  that  I  was  going 

straight  to   heaven I  chose   for   myself 

twenty-one  saints,  read  mass  every  day,  calling 
on  three  of  them  each  day,  so  as  to  complete  the 
circuit  every  week.  Especially  did  I  invoke  the 
holy  Virgin,  as  her  womanly  heart  was  more 
easily  touched,  that  she  might  appease  her  Son." 
Again,  he  says,  "  I  verily  thought  that  by  invok- 
ing three  saints  daily,  and  by  letting  my  body 
waste  a  way  with  fastings  and  watchings,  I  should 
satisfy  the  law,  and  shield  my  conscience  against 
the  goad  of  the  driver.  But  it  all  availed  me 
nothing.  The  further  I  went  on  in  this  way,  the 
more  was  I  terrified,  so  that  I  should  have  given 
over  in  despair,  had  not  Christ  graciously  re- 
garded me,  and  enlightened  me  with  the  light  of 
his  gospel." 

Need  we  any  further  proof  that  a  long  period 
intervened  between  his  first  conversations  with 
Staupitz  and  the  time  that  the  true  light  of  the 
gospel  broke  in  upon  his  soul  ?  Here  he  repre- 
sents himself  as  in  the  grossest  darkness  and  in 
the  most  wretched  condition,  long  after  he  had 
entered  upon  the  duties  of  the  priesthood;  and 
yet  he  was  not  ordained  till  May  2,  L507.  So 
much  is  certain;  Staupitz  was  only  occasionally 
at  Erfurt,  probably  not  more  than  twice  or  three 
times  during  Luther's  residence  in  the  cloister 
there.     His   first   visit    brought   him  in   contact 


118  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1505-1508. 

with  Luther,  but  had  not  the  effect  to  extricate 
the  latter  from  the  scholastic  errors  in  which  he 
was  completely  entangled.  It  was  at  a  later 
period,  and  probably  after  the  second  visit  of 
Staupitz  at  Erfurt,  that  Luther  wrote  to  him 
frequently  on  the  subject  of  his  wretchedness. 
"  When  I  was  a  monk,"  said  Luther  once  to  his 
friends,  "  I  wrote  oft-times  to  Dr.  Staupitz  ;  and 
once  I  wrote  to  him,  exclaiming,  '  Oh,  my  sins, 
my  sins  !'  Then  Staupitz  gave  me  this  reply  : 
'You  would  be  without  sin,  and  yet  you  have 
no  proper  sins.  Christ  forgives  true  sins,  such 
as  parricide,  blasphemy,  contempt  of  God,  adul- 
tery, and  such-like.  These  are  sins  indeed.  You 
must  have  a  register,  in  which  stand  veritable 
sins,  if  Christ  is  to  help  you.'"  This  paradoxi- 
cal language  is  explained  in  a  letter  of  Luther 
to  Spalatin,  written  in  1544.  "  Staupitz  once 
comforted  me  in  my  sorrow,  on  this  wise  :  You 
would  be  a  painted  sinner,  and  have  a  painted 
Christ  as  a  Saviour.  You  must  make  up  your 
mind  that  Christ  is  a  very  Saviour,  and  you  a 
very  sinner."  The  importance  of  these  words  to 
Luther,  and  their  influence  upon  the  character 
of  Luther's  subsequent  religious  views,  as  seen 
in  all  his  writings,  it  will  not  be  easy  for  the 
casual  reader  to  apprehend. 

Luther  was  in  serious  error,  and  had  great  and 
incessant  anguish  on  two  points.  He  looked  upon 
unintentional  negligence  or  forgetfulness  of  the  ar- 
bitrary rules  of  his  order,  which  were  as  countless 
as  they  were  foolish,  as  being  a  heinous  sin  against 
God;  and  then  he  supposed  great  sinfulness  was  a 


.33.21-25.]  CONSECRATION  AS   PRIEST.  119 

bar  to  forgiveness.  On  the  former  point,  Staupitz 
used  a  little  raillery ;  and  on  the  latter,  he  fur- 
nished Luther  the  cardinal  doctrine  of  the  Re- 
formation, that  forgiveness  did  not  depend  at  all 
upon  the  number  or  magnitude  of  one's  sins,  but 
simply  and  solely  on  penitence  for  them.  This 
is  what  Luther  means,  where,  hundreds  of  times 
in  his  sermons  and  other  writings,  he  says  that 
the  Papists  did  not  preach  the  gospel,  which  is 
the  forgiveness  of  sins ;  but  the  law,  which  is 
only  the  knowledge  of  sin,  without  a  Saviour. 

We  might  fill  the  remainder  of  this  chapter  with 
passages  from  his  works,  which  do  nothing  but 
re-echo  the  sentiment  which  he  learned  first  from 
the  lips  of  his  spiritual  counsellor,  and  then  by 
an  uncommonly  deep  and  protracted  experience. 
We  must,  therefore,  not  fail  to  notice,  that  in 
these  very  suggestions  of  Staupitz  lie  the  true 
seeds  of  the  Reformation.  In  proof  of  the  above 
assertion,  Ave  will  adduce  but  one  passage.  We 
will  take  it  from  the  same  letter  to  Spalatin  just 
mentioned.  "  You  have  thus  far  been  but  a 
slender  sinner;  you  reproach  yourself  with  very 
trifling  sins.  Come  and  join  yourself  to  us,  real, 
great  and  daring  sinners,  that  you  may  not  make 
Christ  of  no  account  to  us,  who  is  a  deliverer  not 
from  pretending  and  trifling  sins,  but  from  true, 
great,  nay,  the  greatest  of  sins.  Let  me  put  you 
in  mind  of  my  own  case,  when  I  was  tempted  and 
tried  like  as  yon  now  arc  albeit  I  am  now  strong 
in  Christ.  Believe  flic  Script  me.  that  Christ  is 
come  to  destroy  the  works  of  the  devil,  of  which 
this  despondency  is  one."     This  joyful  and  confi- 


120  LIFE    OF   LUTHER.  [1oO.3-l.508. 

dent  view  of  the  infinite  fulness  of  a  Saviour's 
love,  instead  of  that  terrifying  conception  of  him 
as  a  merciless  judge  and  executioner,  which  he 
had  hitherto  entertained,  constitutes  the  radical 
difference  between  the  Catholic  and  the  Protest- 
ant religion,  as  a  matter  of  experience.  In  the 
one,  good  works  are  sought  as  a  recommendation 
to  Christ,  and  these,  though  imperfect,  are  gra- 
ciously accepted  and  rewarded,  so  that  faith  itself 
is  nothing  but  a  work  of  righteousness,  beginning 
in  the  intellect  and  the  outward  act,  and  gradu- 
ally becoming  spiritual;  in  the  other,  Christ  meets 
the  sinner  as  a  sinner,  and  takes  the  load  himself, 
shows  his  adaptedness  to  just  such  cases ;  gives, 
of  his  own  accord,  a  penitent  and  believing  heart, 
and  forgives  gratuitously,  and  unites  the  soul  to 
himself  by  faith,  which  is  justifying  only  by  virtue 
of  this  union. 

It  was  a  long  time  before  Luther's  mind  was 
clear  on  this  subject.  The  theory  of  the  scho- 
lastic divines  and  the  practice  of  the  church  had 
grown  up  with  him.  The  new  tendency,  which 
began  to  make  its  appearance,  was  suppressed 
and  hemmed  in  on  every  side.  No  expression 
in  the  Bible  was  more  terrific  to  him  than  that 
of  "the  righteousness  of  God."  The  Fathers  had 
explained  it  as  that  attribute  of  jusJJiie_bv  which 
r^nfl-^vpp^fpv;  jrnlo-nirmt.  "  This  interpretation," 
says  Luther,  "caused  me  distress  and  terror  when 
I  was  a  young  theologian.  For  when  I  heard  God 
called  righteous,  I  ran  back  in  my  thoughts  to 
that  interpretation  which  had  become  fixed  and 
rooted  in  me  by  long  habit.  ...  So  powerful  and 


M.  21-25.]  CONSECRATION  AS   PRIEST.  121 

pestilent  a  thing  is  false  and  corrupt  doctrine, 
when  the  heart  has  been  polluted  with  it  from 
youth  up."  Staupitz  and  an  aged  confessor, 
whose  name  is  not  given,  taught  him  that  "  the 
righteousness  of  God,"  in  Paul's  epistles,  had  a 
very  different  meaning,  namely,  that  righteous- 
ness which  becomes  the  sinner's  the  moment  he 
believes  in  Christ.  Referring  to  this  new  ex- 
planation, he  said  :  "  Then  I  came  to  understand 
the  matter,  and  learned  to  distinguish  between 
the  righteousness  of  the  law  and  the  righteous- 
ness of  the  gospel."  "  When  I  began,"  says  he 
again,  "  to  meditate  more  diligently  upon  the 
words  'righteous,'  and  ' righteousness  of  God,' 
which  once  made  me  fear  when  I  heard  them : 
and  when  I  considered  the  passage  in  the  second 
chapter  of  Ilabakkuk,  '  The  just  shall  live  by 
faith,'  and  began  to  learn  that  the  righteousness 
which  is  acceptable  to  God  is  revealed  without 
the  deeds  of  the  law,  from  that  very  time  how 
my  feelings  were  changed ! — and  I  said  to  myself, 
if  we  are  made  righteous  by  faith ;  if  the  right- 
eousness which  availeth  before  God  is  saving  to 
all  who  believe  therein,  then  such  declarations 
ought  not  to  alarm  the  poor  sinner  and  his  timid 
conscience,  but  rather  be  to  them  a  consolation." 
In  another  place  he  says,  "I  had  the  greatest 
longing  to  understand  rightly  the  Epistle  of  Paul 
to  the  Romans,  but  was  always  stopped  by  the 
word  'righteousness,'  in  the  1st  chapter  and  19th 
verse,  where  Paul  says,  '  the  righteousness  of 
God  is  revealed  in  the  gospel.'     I  felt  very  angry 

at  the  term,  '  the  righteousness  of  God ;'  for,  after 

ll 


122  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1505-1508. 

the  manner  of  all  the  teachers,  I  was  taught  to 
understand  it,  in  a  philosophic  sense,  of  that 
righteousness  by  which  God  is  just  and  punish- 
eth  the  guilty.  Though  I  had  lived  without  re- 
proach, I  felt  myself  a  great  sinner  before  God, 
and  was  of  a  very  quick  conscience,  and  had  not 
confidence  in  a  reconciliation  with  God,  to  be  pro- 
duced by  any  work  of  satisfaction  or  merit  of  my 
own.  For  this  cause  I  had  in  me  no  love  of  a 
righteous  and  angry  God,  but  secretly  hated  him, 
and  thought  within  myself,  Is  it  not  enough  that 
God  hath  condemned  us  to  everlasting  death  by 
Adam's  sin,  and  that  we  must  suffer  so  much 
trouble  and  misery  in  this  life  ?  Over  and  above 
the  terror  and  threatening  of  the  law,  must  he 
needs  increase,  by  the  gospel,  our  misery  and 
anguish ;  and,  by  the  preaching  of  the  same, 
thunder  against  us  his  justice  and  fierce  wrath  ? 
My  confused  conscience  oft-times  did  cast  me  into 
fits  of  anger,  and  I  sought,  day  and  night,  to  make 
out  the  meaning  of  Paul ;  and,  at  last,  I  came 
to  apprehend  it  thus :  Through  the  gospel  is  re- 
vealed the  righteousness  which  availeth  with  God, 
a  righteousness  by  which  God,  in  his  mercy  and 
compassion,  justifieth  us,  as  it  is  written,  i  The 
just  shall  live  by  faith.'  Straightway  I  felt  as 
if  I  were  born  anew ;  it  was  as  if  I  had  found 
the  door  of  Paradise  thrown  wide  open.  Now  I 
saw  the  Scriptures  in  altogether  a  new  light,  ran 
through  their  whole  contents,  as  far  as  my  me- 
mory would  serve,  and  compared  them,  and  found 
that  the  righteousness  was  the  more  surely  that 
by  which  he  makes  us  righteous,  because  every 


M.  21-25.]  CONSECRATION  AS   PRIEST.  123 

thing  agreed  thereunto  so  well.  .  .  .  The  expres- 
sion, '  the  righteousness  of  God,'  which  I  so 
much  hated  before,  became  now  dear  and  pre- 
cious, my  darling  and  most  comforting  word ; 
and  that  passage  of  Paul  was  to  me  the  true 
door  of  Paradise." 

This  long  passage  is  one  of  the  most  interesting 
to  be  found  in  all  Luther's  writings.  Though  we 
are  rarely  able  to  state  positively  the  moment  of 
one's  conversion,  we  may  confidently  affirm  that 
this  paragraph  refers  us  distinctly  to  the  time 
when  the  scales  fell  from  Luther's  eyes,  and  when 
he  broke  through  that  complicated  and  strong 
net-work  of  papal  error  which  had  hitherto  held 
him  captive.  From  this  time  Luther  is  a  new 
man.  He  had  a  footing  of  his  own,  and  felt  the 
strength  of  his  foundation.  Although  he  had 
almost  every  thing  to  learn  in  respect  to  this  new 
land  of  promise,  he  knew  that  he  was  in  it. 

Again,  we  learn  to  a  certainty  here,  that  Luther's 
own  mind  laboured  long  and  hard  upon  this  point. 
Nothing  can  be  more  erroneous  than  the  impres- 
sion received  by  many  from  the  meagre  accounts 
commonly  given  of  this  struggle,  that  a  few  short 
and  simple  words  of  Staupitz  speedily  set  him 
right.  The  process  was  very  protracted  and  com- 
plicated, and  the  fierce  contention  between  two 
opposite  elements  was  carried  on  long,  and  ex- 
tended through  all  the  domain  of  monasticism, 
its  habits  and  usages,  its  Scripture  interpreta- 
tions, its  dialectics,  and  the  whole  mass  of  its 
cumbrous  theology.  A  gigantic  effort  of  intellect 
was  requisite  in  order  that  Luther  should  feel  his 


124  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1505-1508. 

way  out,  iii  opposition  to  all  the  scholastic  and 
monastic  influences,  not  only  without  the  aid  of 
the  original  Scriptures,  but  with  a  version  (the 
Vulgate)  in  which  the  key-word  to  this  doctrine 
of  justification  was  rendered  by  justitia,  justice, 
which,  with  its  false  glosses,  greatly  increased  the 
difficulty. 

But  we  should  err,  if  we  were  to  dilute  this 
great  change  down  to  a  mere  intellectual  process. 
Luther  himself  viewed  it  very  differently,  and 
always  represented  it  as  a  spiritual  transforma- 
tion, effected  by  the  grace  of  God.  He  remarks 
on  this  subject,  "  Staupitz  assisted  me,  or  rather 
God  through  him.  ...  I  lay  wretchedly  entangled 
in  the  papal  net.  ...  I  must  have  perished  in  the 
den  of  murderers,  if  God  had  not  delivered  me. 
.  .  .  His  grace  transformed  me,  and  kept  me  from 
going  with  the  enemies  of  the  gospel,  and  from 
joining  them  now  in  shedding  innocent  blood." 
Who  can  doubt  that  he  spoke  from  his  own  expe- 
rience, when  he  said,  "As  soon  as  you  receive  the 
knowledge  of  Christ  with  sure  faith,  all  anger, 
fear  and  trembling  vanish  in  the  twinkling  of  an 
eye,  and  nothing  but  pure  compassion  is  seen  in 
God  !  Such  knowledge  quickeneth  the  heart  and 
maketh  it  joyful  and  assured  that  God  is  not 
angry  with  us,  but  tenderly  loveth  us." 

The  remainder  of  the  time  that  Luther  spent  in 
Erfurt,  that  is,  the  latter  part  of  his  third  year  in 
the  cloister,  and  the  little  of  the  fourth  that  was 
passed  there  before  going  to  Wittenberg,  was  em- 
ployed in  the  study  of  the  Christian  Fathers,  and 
especially  the  writings  of  Augustine,  in  connec- 


JE. 


-25.] 


CONSECRATION   AS   PRIEST. 


125 


tion  with  the  Scriptures  and  the  doctrine  of  justi- 
fication. That  it  is  a  mistake  to  place  the  study 
of  Augustine  and  others  of  the  church  Fathers, 
except  the  casual  reading  of  them,  at  an  earlier 
period,  is  evident  from  the  account  given  by 
Melancthon,  who  says  it  took  place  after  he  had 
ascertained  the  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith. 
With  the  works  of  Augustine  he  became  very 
familiar,  and  afterward  he  edited  one  of  his  trea- 
tises, to  be  used  as  a  text-book  in  the  Univer- 
sity of  Wittenberg.  In  the  preface  he  remarks, 
"I  can  safely  affirm,  from  my  own  experience, 
that  next  to  the  Holy  Scriptures  there  is  no 
writer  of  the  church  who  can  be  compared  with 
Augustine  in  Christian  learning."  Another  fa- 
vourite author  with  Luther  at  this  time  was 
Gerson,  with  whose  moral  writings  he  was  par- 
ticularly pleased,  "because  he  alone,  of  all  the 
writers  of  the  church,  treated  of  spiritual  trials 
and  temptations." 


11* 


126 


LIFE   OF    LUTHER. 


[1508. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


LUTHER  AS    PROFESSOR   IN   WITTENBERG,    TILL    THE    BEGIN- 
NING  OF   THE  REFORMATION   IN   1517. 

Section  I. — Luther's  Removal  to  Wittenberg. 

E  now  come  to 
the  close  of  an  im- 
portant period  of 
Luther's  life.  Du- 
ring a  residence 
of  a  little  more 
than  seven  years 
in  Erfurt,  from 
July  17,  1501,  to 
the  autumn  of 
1508,  in  which  he 
had  passed  from  youth  to  the  state  of  manhood, 
both  his  intellectual  and  religious  character  under- 
went a  great  transformation.  Four  years  of  time, 
devoted  with  signal  success  to  secular  learning  in 
the  university;  and  nearly  three  and  a  half  to 
experimental  religion  and  to  theology  in  the  mo- 
nastery, changed  the  boy,  who  knew  nothing  of 
learning  beyond  the  catechism  and  Latin  gram- 
mar, and  nothing  of  religion  beyond  a  gloomy 
apprehension  of  it  and  a  crude  mass  of  super- 
stitions, into  a  mature  scholar  and  theologian,  to 
whom  the  young  University  of  Wittenberg  looked 
as  to  one  likely  to  increase  its  usefulness  and  its 


M.  25.]  WITTENBERG.  127 

fame.  The  appointment  was  very  peculiar.  Such 
was  his  modesty,  and  his  reluctance  to  appearing 
abroad  in  any  public  capacity,  that  Staupitz,  as 
provincial  of  the  order,  peremptorily  required  him 
to  repair  to  the  monastery  at  Wittenberg,  and  to 
lecture  there  on  philosoph}'-.  The  conscientious 
monk,  who  had  learned  nothing  more  perfectly 
than  he  had  the  duty  of  obedience,  and  who,  no 
doubt,  would  have  resisted  any  entreaty,  and  de- 
clined any  appointment,  hastened  to  comply  with 
the  order,  not  waiting  even  to  take  leave  of  his 
friends,  and  hardly  providing  himself  with  a 
change  of  apparel.  Inasmuch  as  this  event  opens 
a  new  period  in  his  life,  in  which  an  extraordinary 
development  of  character  was  wrought,  and  a 
transition  made  from  the  passive  submission  of 
the  monk  to  the  activity  and  control  of  one  born 
to  rule,  it  becomes  necessary,  at  this  point,  to 
pause  and  take  a  survey  of  the  new  theatre  of 
action  upon  which  he  was  now  entering,  and  of 
the  widely  different  relations  which  he  wTas  hence- 
forth to  sustain. 

WITTENBERG. 

Probably  Luther  never  saw  this  place  till  he 
went  to  take  his  station  there  for  life.  And  what 
a  station  was  that!  and  how  did  he  fill  it!  Pass- 
ing beyond  Weimar,  Naumburg  and  Leipsic,  and 
directing  his  course  toward  Diiben.  which  is  about 
midway  between  Leipsic  and  AVittenberg,  he  would 
see  spread  out  before  him  a  rich  arable  tract  of 
country,  dotted  with  countless  small  villages.  Only 
Eilenburg  on  the  right,  and  Delitsch  on  the  left, 


128  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1508. 

several  miles  distant,  rise  to  the  dignitj^  of  towns. 
Near  Diiben,  pleasant  woodland  and  fine  meadows 
begin  to  appear,  and  extend  far  in  both  direc- 
tions along  the  banks  of  the  Mulcle.  A  mile 
beyond  that  town,  Luther,  of  course,  entered  the 
Diiben  Heath,  a  desolate,  sandy  region,  seven  or 
eight  miles  in  extent,  covered  with  stunted  trees, 
where  an  equally  stunted  race  of  wood-cutters, 
colliers  and  manufacturers  of  wooden-ware,  led  a 
boorish  life.  Near  the  entrance  of  the  heath  is  a 
rock,  called  Dr.  Luther's  Rock,  with  the  letters 
1).  M.  L.  inscribed  upon  it,  because  he  is  said  to 
have  made  a  pause  here  once  when  on  a  journey, 
and  to  have  taken  a  repast  upon  it.  To  the  right 
of  the  heath,  near  the  Elbe,  is  Schmiedeberg, 
whither  the  university  was  sometimes  temporarily 
removed  in  seasons  of  peril.  Beyond  the  river  is 
the  castle  of  Lichtenberg,  where  Luther  held  an 
anxious  interview  with  Spalatin,  in  1518,  to  de- 
termine whether  he  should  retire  from  Wittenberg 
or  not.  North  of  this  are  Annaburg,  the  occa- 
sional residence  of  the  electors,  and  the  Cloister 
Lochau,  so  often  mentioned  by  Luther.  Directly 
on  his  route  lay  Kemberg,  which  was  also  con- 
nected variously  with  the  university.  The  last 
place  he  passed  through  was  Prata,  whose  dis- 
tance from  Wittenberg,  he  once  said,  would  give 
an  idea  of  the  width  of  the  Po.  To  the  left  lay 
Sagrena,  Carlstadt's  resoft,  when  he  retired  from 
the  university,  and  lived  as  a  peasant.  Beyond 
this  were  seen  the  Elbe  and  the  white  sand  hills 
which  gave  to  Wittenberg  its  name.  The  town 
itself,  containing  then  three  hundred  and  fifty-six 


JE.  25.]  WITTENBERG.  129 

houses  and  about  two  thousand  inhabitants,  lay 
before  him  on  the  north  side  of  the  Elbe,  and  two 
hundred  rods  distant  from  it,  in  a  long  oval  form, 
with  the  electoral  church  and  palace  at  the  west- 
ern extremity,  the  city  church  in  the  centre,  and 
the  Augusteum  or  university  toward  the  Elster 
gate,  at  the  eastern  extremity.  Though  Witten- 
berg was  the  capital  of  the  old  electorate,  its 
appearance  was  far  from  being  splendid.  On  the 
north  side  arc  seen  plains  broken  by  sand-hills  and 
copses  of  wood;  on  the  south,  a  low  flat  heath, 
behind  which  flowed  the  broad  Elbe,  fringed  here 
and  there  with  willow  and  oak  shrubs.  Many 
wretched  hamlets  were  seen  in  the  distance,  and 
the  city  itself,  if  we  except  the  public  buildings, 
was  but  little  more  than  a  cluster  of  mean  dwell- 
ings. The  people  were  warlike,  but  so  sensual 
that  it  was  thought  necessary  to  limit  their  con- 
vivialities by  law.  At  betrothals,  for  example, 
nothing  was  allowed  to  be  given  to  the  guests, 
except  cakes,  bread,  cheese,  fruit  and  beer.  The 
last  article  so  abounded  at  Wittenberg,  that  it  was 
said,  "The  cuckoo  could  be  heard  there  in  winter 
evenings ;"  speaking,  of  course,  through  the  throats 
of  the  bottles.  There  were  one  hundred  and 
seventy-two  breweries  in  t  he  city  in  1513.  Among 
the  expenditures  of  the  city,  recorded  in  the 
treasurer's  books,  for  the  ten  years  preceding  Lu- 
ther's arrival,  are  moneys  paid  for  lire-arms;  for 
race-grounds,  where  oxen  were  the  prize  won  in 
the  race;  for  paintings  and  masks  used  in  plays; 
for  garments,  masks,  rings,  scaffolding,  linen, 
dresses  for  Satan  and  his  companions;  for  Judas 


130  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1508. 

and  the  two  thieves,  all  to  be  used  in  the  amuse- 
ments of  Passion-week.  Luther  rarely  speaks  in 
praise  of  the  inhabitants  in  and  about  Wittenberg. 
At  one  time,  he  says,  "The  Saxons  are  neither 
agreeable  nor  civil;"  at  another  time,  " The  Witten- 
bergers  trouble  themselves  neither  about  honour, 
courtesy,  nor  religion ;  they  do  not  send  their  sons 
to  school,  though  so  many  come  here  from  abroad." 
There  seems  to  have  been  an  almost  entire  desti- 
tution of  lower  schools  here  at  that  time,  and 
there  was  no  Latin  school  till  1519.  The  first 
press  at  Wittenberg,  for  printing  learned  works, 
that  is,  in  the  Latin  language  with  the  Roman 
type,  was  established  in  the  Augustinian  cloister, 
the  year  after  Luther  became  an  inmate  there; 
and  a  German  press  had  existed  there  only  five 
years  before  his  arrival. 

What  has  just  been  said  will  find  a  sufficient 
explanation  in  the  fact  that  Wittenberg  was  situ- 
ated on  the  north-eastern  verge  of  German  civili- 
zation, being  a  border-town,  between  the  Wends 
on  the  east  and  the  Saxons  on  the  west,  and  being 
as  yet  but  feebly  influenced  by  the  refinements 
of  learning,  which  came  from  the  south,  and  the 
west,  from  Italy  and  France.  Cologne,  Heidel- 
berg and  Erfurt  were  the  principal  seats  of 
learning,  until  Wittenberg,  ten  years  from  this 
time,  came  to  eclipse  them  all,  and  to  fix  the 
source  and  centre  of  illumination  far  to  the 
north. 


M.  25.]  WITTENBERG.  131 


THE    UNIVERSITY. 


Wittenberg    University   had    been    in  exist- 
ence six  years  when  Luther  was  appointed  pro- 
fessor.    Until  1507,  it  was  supported  chiefly  from 
the  funds  of  the  Elector  Frederic,  who  now  incor- 
porated with  it  the  collegiate  church,  with  all  its 
sources  of  income,  and  the  provostships  of  Kem- 
berg  and  Cloden,  the  parish  of  Orlamiinde,  &c, 
the  canons  of  the  former  becoming  lecturers  with- 
out cost  or  trouble,  and   the  incumbents  of  the 
Li  Iter  providing  vicars  in  their  churches,  and  re- 
moving to  the  university,  where  they  lived  upon 
their  incomes.    The  university  was  organized  after 
the  model  of  Tubingen,  and  bore  resemblance  to 
the  University  of  Erfurt.      All  these  were  less 
under  ecclesiastical  control  than  the  Universities 
of   Louvain,   Cologne,    Ingoldstadt   and    Leipsic. 
The  rector,  who  must  be  unmarried,  and  maintain 
his  dignity  by  studied  seclusion,  and  appear  in 
public   only  in    great   pomp, — assisted    by  three 
reformers,  whose  duty  it  was  to  superintend  the 
instruction,  and  the  deans  of  the  four  faculties, 
constituted   the  Academic  Senate.      The  univer- 
sity, contrary  to  the  usual  custom,  was  under  the 
protection  of  the  elector,  and  not  of  the  pope,  or 
a  cardinal,  or  an  archbishop,  a  circumstance  which 
greatly  favoured  the  Reformation.     None,  there- 
fore, but  the  elector  could  control  the  university 
from  without,  and  none  but  the  rector  and  his 
assistants,  the  reformers,  could  do  it  from  within. 
These,  however,  had  enough  to  do.     In  the  very 


132  LIFE   OF  LUTHER.  [1508. 

year  that  Luther  came  there,  the  students  had  so 
insulted  some  of  the  court  of  the  Bishop  of  Bran- 
denburg, that  he  put  the  whole  city  under  the  in- 
terdict, which  was  removed  only  on  the  payment 
of  two  thousand  gulden.  The  year  before,  when 
Scheurl,  a  very  energetic  man,  was  rector,  he 
checked  the  prevailing  vice  of  intoxication  among 
the  students,  and  prohibited  the  practice  of  going 
armed  with  gun,  sword  and  knife.  Still,  in  1512, 
another  rector  was  assassinated  by  an  expelled 
student;  and  Melancthon  once  barely  escaped 
with  his  life. 

Paul  and  Augustine  were  the  patron  saints  o£ 
the  theological  faculty,  a  clear  intimation  on  the 
part  of  Staupitz,  the  organizer  and  first  dean  of 
this  faculty,  that  the  theological  system  which  he 
had  always  taught  was  to  be  favoured  here.  Thus 
a  place  was  from  the  beginning  prepared  for  Lu- 
ther, who  had  studied  Paul  most  of  all  the  sacred 
writers,  and  Augustine  most  of  all  the  ecclesias- 
tical. The  whole  university  was  to  observe  the 
festivals  of  the  saints  of  each  faculty.  The  facul- 
ties were  the  theological,  in  which  there  were  four 
professors :  the  law,  in  which  there  were  five :  the 
medical,  in  which  there  were  three :  and  the  phi- 
losophical, including  science  and  literature,  in 
which  there  were  ten.  In  the  theological  faculty 
were  Staupitz,  Pollich,  (one  of  the  founders  of 
the  university,)  Truttvetter,  Luther's  teacher  in 
Erfurt,  and  Henning.  Amsdorf  and  Carlstadt 
were  teachers  of  the  scholastic  philosophy.  There 
was  as  yet  no  teacher  in  Greek,  Hebrew,  or  mathe- 
matics.    The  number   of  students  who  entered 


M.  25.]  WITTENBERG.  133 

that  year  (1508)  was  one  hundred  and  seventy- 
nine,  and  the  whole  number  in  the  university 
could  not  have  been  more  than  four  or  five  hun- 
dred, though  it  amounted  in  a  few  years  to  two 
thousand.  As  Luther  passed  rapidly  through  all 
the  degrees  conferred  in  theology,  it  becomes  ne- 
cessary to  explain  their  nature.  The  first  was 
that  of  hibllcus,  though  the  candidate  ordinarily 
knew7  little  of  the  Bible  beyond  a  few  papal 
glosses  on  favourite  proof-texts :  the  second  was 
that  of  sententiarius,  who  could  lecture  on  the  first 
two  books  of  the  Sentences  of  Peter  Lombardus : 
the  third  was  that  of  formatus,  who  could  lecture 
on  the  last  twro  books  of  the  same  author:  the 
fourth  was  that  of  licentiatus,  one  licensed  to  teach 
theology  in  general :  the  fifth  was  that  of  doctor 
of  divinity. 

THE   CHURCHES   AND   ECCLESIASTICAL   RELATIONS   OF 
WITTENBERG. 

Wittenberg  belonged  to  the  diocese  of  Branden- 
burg, of  which  Scultet  was  bishop,  subject  to  the 
Archbishop  of  Magdeburg,  who  at  that  time  and 
till  1513  was  Ernest,  brother  of  the  Elector  Frede- 
ric. He  was  succeeded  by  Albert,  of  the  Branden- 
burg family,  who  retained  the  see  of  Magdeburg 
after  he  became  Archbishop  of  Mainz,  and,  of 
course,  primate  of  Germany.  These,  next  after 
Staupitz,  were  Luther's  ecclesiastical  superiors. 

The  Electoral  Church  (called  also  the  Church 
of  Ursula  and  her  eleven  thousand  virgins,  or  All 
Saints')  gave,  on  account  of  its  innumerable  relics 
and  unprecedented  indulgences,  a  very  supersti- 


134  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1508. 

tious  air  to  the  religious  character  of  Wittenberg. 
In  1353,  the  elector,  who  had  been  rewarded  for 
his  faithful  services  to  the  King  of  France  by  a 
thorn  from  the  crown  worn  by  Christ,  erected  a 
chapel  for  the  relic,  and  appointed  seven  chap- 
lains. This  grew  by  degrees  into  an  important 
collegiate  church,  being  exempted  from  the  bishop's 
jurisdiction,  and  exercising  the  right  of  patron- 
age over  the  other  churches  of  the  city.  When 
vacancies  occurred  in  the  chapter,  the  canons,  the 
number  of  whom  were  increased  to  eighty,  were 
presented  by  the  elector.  All  who  worshipped 
here  had  forty  days'  indulgence.  Every  week 
occurred  the  anniversary  of  some  saint,  which 
was  announced  every  Sunday,  together  with  the 
relics  to  be  shown.  The  electoral  church,  which 
occupied  the  place  of  that  old  chapel,  was  erected 
by  the  Elector  Frederic,  and  finished  nine  years 
previous  to  Luther's  removal  to  this  place.  Re- 
lics were  now  collected  from  every  quarter,  at 
great  expense,  the  pope  and  foreign  ecclesiastics 
aiding  those  who  were  engaged  in  the  work. 
They  were  divided  into  eight  classes,  and  shown 
in  as  many  courses  to  superstitious  worshippers. 
The  number  of  the  relics  amounted  to  five  thou- 
sand and  five,  which  were  enclosed  in  cases  of 
wood,  stone,  glass,  silver  and  gold,  embossed  with 
pearls.  Most  of  them  belonged  to  holy  virgins, 
widows,  confessors,  martyrs,  apostles  and  pro- 
phets; but  the  eighth  class,  containing  three  hun- 
dred and  thirty-one,  related  to  Christ,  such  as 
garments,  teeth,  hair  in  abundance,  relics  of  the 
children  slain  by  Herod,  milk  from  the  holy  Vir- 


M.  25.]  FREDERIC   THE  WISE.  135 

gin,  thread  spun  by  her,  straw  from  the  manger 
in  Bethlehem,  and  fragments  from  the  cross  and 
from  Mount  Sinai !  Every  person,  to  whom  all 
these  and  another  collection  of  seventeen  hun- 
dred relics  should  be  shown,  was  entitled  to  four- 
teen hundred  and  forty-three  years  of  indulgence ! 
equalled  by  no  other  place  in  Christendom  except 
Assisi,  the  native  place  of  St.  Franciscus.  In 
this  single  church,  9901  masses  were  said,  and 
35,570  pounds  of  wax  consumed  every  year  ! 
One  of  the  first  books  printed  at  Wittenberg  after 
Luther  arrived  there,  was  a  "Description  of  the 
Venerable  Relics,"  with  one  hundred  and  nine- 
teen wood-cuts.  This  was  the  church  where  Lu- 
ther sometimes  preached,  where  the  higher  de- 
grees were  conferred,  and  on  whose  doors  the 
ninety-five  theses  were  posted  up.  The  city  or 
parish  church,  where  most  of  Luther's  sermons 
were  delivered,  and  of  which  Pontanus  and  Bu- 
genhagen  were  successive  pastors,  was  in  another 
part  of  the  town. 

FREDERIC   THE   WISE — BORN    1463 — DIED    1525. 

The  reigning  Saxon  family  was  divided  into 
two  branches,  the  Albertine  and  the  Ernestine. 
From  Albert,  (whose  ordinary  residence  was 
Dresden,)  descended  Duke  George,  Luther's  bit- 
ter enemy,  and  to  him  succeeded  first  Henry 
and  then  Maurice.  To  Ernest,  who  resided 
sometimes  at  Torgau  and  sometimes  at  Witten- 
berg, Avere  born  four  distinguished  sons,  the 
Elector  Frederic  the  Wise,  who  in  his  birth 
preceded  Luther  twenty  years,  and  in  his  death 


136  LIFE    OF    LUTHER.  [1508. 

twenty-one;  Albert,  who  at  the  age  of  eighteen 
was  Archbishop  of  Mainz,  in  1482,  but  died  in 
the  same  year ;  Ernest,  who,  after  being  Admi- 
nistrator of  Magdeburg  for  several  years,  was 
archbishop  from  1489  to  1513 ;  and  John  the 
Constant,  now  associated  with  Frederic  in  the 
government,  and  in  1525  his  successor. 

If  we  bear  in  mind  that  the  Archbishops  of 
Magdeburg  and  Mainz  had  large  territories  under 
their  civil  government,  and  actually  had  more  of 
the  character  of  princes  than  of  ecclesiastics,  we 
shall  not  fail  to  perceive  the  great  extent  of  the 
Saxon  dominion  at  the  time  that  the  family  oc- 
cupied all  the  places  above  named.  Hence  the 
jealousy  between  that  house  and  the  house  of 
Brandenburg,  when  Albert,  belonging  to  the  lat- 
ter, was  at  the  same  time  Archbishop  both  in 
Magdeburg  and  in  Mainz.  This  explains  the 
circumstance  that  Tetzel,  Albert's  agent  in  sell- 
ing indulgences,  was  coolly  received  in  Saxony, 
but  was  favourably  received  in  all  the  territories 
of  the  Brandenburg  family. 

Frederic,  like  all  his  brothers,  was  well  edu- 
cated, and  could  write  and  speak  the  Latin  and 
French,  besides  the  German.  In  the  absence  of 
the  Emperor  Maximilian,  in  1507,  he  adminis- 
tered the  affairs  of  the  empire  in  the  character 
of  vicar.  He  had  done  the  same  before,  and  was 
called  to  do  it  once  again  at  the  important  crisis 
in  respect  to  the  Reformation,  during  the  interval 
between  the  death  of  Maximilian  and  the  election 
of  Charles  V.  in  1519.  He  attended  thirty  diets 
in  all,  in  which  he  took  frequently  the  most  im- 


M.  25.]  FREDERIC    THE   WISE.  137 

portant,  and  never  a  .subordinate  part.  He  was, 
for  those  times,  an  admirable  ruler  in  his  own 
territories;  increasing  steadily  the  power  of  the 
electorate,  and  commanding  universal  respect  at 
home  and  abroad. 

Though  surnamed  the  Wise,  he  was  rather  vir- 
tuous and  prudent  than  great.  If  he  did  not 
regard  the  interests  of  Saxony  too  much,  he  re- 
garded those  of  Germany  too  little.  He  undoubt- 
edly contributed  his  share  toward  weakening  and 
dividing  the  empire,  by  uniting  with  other  elect- 
ors and  princes  in  raising  the  states  to  sove- 
reignty and  independence.  His  patriotism  was 
narrower  than  that  of  Ulrich  von  Hutten,  Francis 
von  Sickingen,  or  even  Philip  of  Hesse. 

i As  he  was  a  liberal  patron  of  letters,  those 
who  have  written  his  history  were  so  much  in- 
debted to  him  that  their  praises  are  to  be  re- 
ceived with  some  little  caution.  He  was  a  great 
lover  of  peace ;  and  it  is  said,  that  during  his 
reign  blood  never  flowed  in  his  dominions.  His 
private  virtue  was  not  quite  spotless.  Luther 
complains  that  intoxication  was  too  much  in- 
dulged in  at  his  court ;  that  taxes  wTere  some- 
times oppressive;  and  that  the  administration  of 
justice  and  of  other  public  affairs  was  often  too 
long  delayed.  But  he  was  remarkably  upright 
and  firm.  When  the  imperial  throne  became  va- 
cant, he  refused  all  presents  offered  him  as  elector 
by  the  competitors ;  declined  the  imperial  crown 
when  offered  to  him;  and,  though  he  favoured  the 
election  of  Charles,  he  was  active  in  limiting  his 
authority  by  ;i  capitulation  to  be  previously  signed. 

12* 


138  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1508. 

His  cautious  and  hesitating  course  toward  Lu- 
ther and  the  Reformation  was  undoubtedly  fa- 
vourable ;  inasmuch  as  it  left  the  work  to  depend 
on  spiritual  resources,  and  thereby  kept  it  from 
assuming  the  character  of  a  political  revolu- 
tion. He  was  originally  a  superstitious  but  not 
bigoted  papist.  He  expended  no  less  than  two 
hundred  thousand  gulden  on  his  favourite  colle- 
giate church  and  its  relics.  He  made  a  pilgrim- 
age to  Jerusalem,  accompanied  by  the  painter 
Cranach  and  others.  Of  course  there  could,  at 
first,  be  but  little  sympathy  between  him  and 
Luther. 

SECTION  II. — Luther's  early  Labours  in  Wittenberg. 

We  are  now  prepared  to  follow  Luther  in  the 
new  scene  of  his  labours.  The  precise  time  of 
his  journey  thither  is  not  known,  but,  as  we  find 
his  name  entered  as  teacher  in  the  winter  seme- 
ster, or  half-year  term,  of  1508-1509,  we  may 
infer  that  he  was  probably  on  the  ground  by 
November,  to  commence  the  term.  Luther,  who 
had  so  long  resided  in  the  large  and  beautiful  city 
of  Erfurt,  and,  before  that,  in  Eisenach  and  Mag- 
deburg, sensibly  felt  the  change  when  he  came  to 
a  little,  unattractive  town,  consisting  mostly  of  a 
cluster  of  low  houses,  with  mud  walls  and  thatched 
roofs.  "I  wondered,"  said  he,  "that  a  university 
should  be  placed  here."  As  monk,  he  found  his 
new  home  in  the  Augustinian  cloister,  which  the 
elector  was  then  rebuilding.  How  little  did  Fre- 
deric, while  preparing  that  apartment,  which  is 


M.  25.]  EARLY   LABOURS   IN   WITTENBERG.  ]39 

still  preserved,  or  brother  Martin,  when  taking 
up  his  residence  there,  which  he  never  afterward 
changed,  think  that  in  this  obscure  place  should 
be  forged  the  weapons,  and  from  it  the  missiles  be 
showered  forth  which,  in  connection  with  other 
agencies,  should  put  to  flight  the  ranks  of  the 
enemy,  and  change  the  destinies  of  nearly  all  the 
north  of  Europe !  Parts  of  the  building  it  was 
necessary  to  take  dowm  during  Luther's  lifetime, 
at  which  it  was  natural  that  he  should  feel  sad. 
"If  I  should  live  another  year,"  he  remarked, 
with  emotion,  "I  must  behold  the  removal  of  my 
poor  little  room,  from  whence  I  have  stormed  the 
pope,  for  which  cause  it  deserves  to  stand  for 
ever." 

He  commenced  his  labours  by  lecturing  on  the 
dialectics  and  physics  of  Aristotle,  without  salary 
or  tuition  fees.  It  is  remarkable  that  he  never 
received  any  thing  from  students  for  his  labours, 
nor  from  booksellers  for  his  writings.*  After  he 
laid  aside  the  cowl,  the  elector  gave  him  an  allow- 
ance of  two  hundred  gulden  a  year. 

From  the  change  through  which  Luther's  mind 
had  recently  passed,  and  from  the  fresh  interest 
he  now  took  in  the  study  of  the  Bible  and  of 
theology,  we  might  infer  that  the  Aristotelian 
philosophy  would  have  few  attractions  for  him. 
It  was  indeed  with  reluctance  that  lie  turned 
away  from   his   favourite   studies,   and   laid   out 

*  The  publishers  of  his  works  offered  him  four  hundred  florins 
a  year,  if  he  would  give  them  his  manuscripts;  but  he  refused 
"to  make  merchandise  of  the  gifts  with  which  God  had  endowed 
him." 


140  LIFE   OF  LUTHER.  [1509. 

all  his  strength  in  preparing  for  his  philosophi- 
cal lectures.  So  entirely  was  he  obliged  to  sur- 
render himself  to  his  new  occupation,  that  he 
could  not  find  time  to  write  to  his  most  intimate 
friends.  A  letter  which  he  wrote  to  his  old  ac- 
quaintance, Braun,  in  Eisenach,  a  week  after  he 
was  transferred  to  the  department  of  theology, 
unbosoms  to  us  his  feelings  during  the  first  few 
months  of  his  residence  at  Wittenberg.  "  That 
I  came  off,"  he  writes,  March  17,  1509,  "with- 
out saying  a  word  unto  you,  you  must  not  mar- 
vel. For  so  sudden  was  my  departure  that  my 
choicest  friends  there  hardly  knew  it.  I  would 
fain  have  written  unto  you,  but  could  not  then 
for  lack  of  time,  and  could  only  but  grieve  that 
1  was  constrained  to  fly  away  in  such  haste,  with- 
out bidding  you  farewell.  But  now,  at  God's 
command,  or  by  his  permission,  I  am  here  in 
Wittenberg.  Would  you  know  my  state  and 
condition,  I  would  say  it  is,  by  God's  favour, 
very  good,  saving  that  I  must  force  myself  unto 
my  studies,  especially  philosophy,  before  which 
I  preferred  theology  from  the  beginning.  I  mean 
that  theology  which  seeketh  for  the  inside  of  the 
nut,  for  the  kernel  of  the  wheat  beneath  the 
husk,  for  the  marrow  within  the  bone.  But  God 
is  God,  and  man  often,  nay,  always,  erreth  in  his 
judgment.  This  is  our  God,  and  he  shall  guide 
us  in  his  loving-kindness  for  ever/' 

The  circumstance  that  within  about  four  months 
he  became  lecturer,  or  elementary  teacher,  in  theo- 
logy, renders  it  highly  probable  that  Staupitz,  and 
perhaps  himself,  considered  his  first  appointment 


JE.  25.]  EARLY  LABOURS  IN  AVITTENBERG.  ]41 

as  merely  preparatory  to  the  second.  At  any 
rate,  the  ninth  of  March  was  a  joyful  clay  to 
him.  In  the  university  book,  where  his  name  is 
registered,  we  find  the  amusing  remark:  "On  the 
ninth  of  March,  master  {i.  e.  A.  M.)  Martin  was 
admitted  to  the  Bible,  (/.  e.  made  biblicus,)  but, 
being  called  away  to  Erfurt,  hath  not  unto  this 
time  paid  his  fee."  In  the  margin  is  added,  in 
Luther's  own  hand,  "  And  never  will.  I  was 
then  poor,  and  under  the  rule  of  monastic  obedi- 
ence, and  had  nothing  to  give.  Let  Erfurt  pay."' 
The  biblical  bachelors  knew  nothing  of  the  ori- 
ginal languages  of  the  Bible,  nor  did  they  in  any 
respect  resemble  the  modern  professors  of  bibli- 
cal literature.  They  merely  studied  the  inter- 
pretations, or  select  passages  of  Scripture,  given 
by  the  fathers,  the  popes  and  the  councils.  The 
study  was  but  a  superficial  and  hasty  prepara- 
tion for  reading  the  books  of  sentences.  Accord- 
ing to  the  laws  of  the  Wittenberg  University,  the 
biblical  teacher  must  promise  to  teach  the  Scrip- 
tures one  year,  or,  if  he  was  a  monk,  half  a  year. 
In  the  programme  of  lectures  for  the  year  1007, 
the  only  one  extant  of  that  period,  no  lecturer 
of  this  kind  is  mentioned,  and  but  little  account 
was  generally  made  of  that  office.  Though  Lu- 
ther could  not  now  read  the  Scriptures  in  the 
original  languages,  nor  t he  Greek  Fathers  except 
through  Latin  translations,  his  present  views  of 
theology  and  his  l<»ve  of  the  Bible  led  him  to 
enter  upon  his  official  duties  with  an  unprece- 
dented earnestness  and  zeal.  To  this  and  the 
following  period   he  refers  in   a  work  published 


142  LIFE    OF    LUTHER.  [1509. 

in  1539,  in  which,  speaking  of  the  assurance  and 
yet  the  ignorance  of  his  opponents,  he  says,  "  I 
have  also  read  the  Fathers,  and  that,  too,  before 
I  set  myself  in  such  stiff  opposition  to  the  pope. 
I  read  them,  too,  with  much  more  diligence  than 
they  have  done  who  now  bring  them  arrogantly 
and  vauntingly  against  me.  For  I  know  that 
not  one  of  them  hath  ever  undertaken  to  lecture 
in  the  schools  on  a  single  book  of  the  Bible,  and 
make  use  of  the  writings  of  the  Fathers  as  helps, 
as  I  have  done.  Let  them  take  up  a  book  of  the 
Bible,  and  look  for  the  glosses  to  be  found  in  the 
Fathers,  and  it  then  will  be  with  them  as  it  was 
with  me  when  I  took  up  the  Epistle  to  the  He- 
brews, with  the  aid  of  Chrysostom's  commen- 
tary; Titus  and  Galatians,  with  the  aid  of  Je- 
rome ;  Genesis,  with  the  help  of  Ambrose  and 
Augustine ;  and  the  Psalms  with  all  the  helps 
that  could  be  found;  and  so  of  other  books." 

The  impression,  therefore,  which  his  biblical 
lectures  at  first  made,  must  have  depended  more 
on  his  having  thrown  his  heart  into  it,  and  ex- 
hibited boldly  and  clearly  some  long  forgotten 
doctrinal  truths,  than  upon  his  mastery  of  bibli- 
cal studies. 

HIS   RELUCTANCE   TO   PREACH. 

The  monastic  shyness  and  timidity  which  he 
had  before  manifested  adhered  to  him  still.  Being 
called  upon  about  this  time,  probably  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1509,  by  Staupitz  to  preach,  he  mani- 
fested extreme  reluctance.  "  It  is  no  little 
matter,"  said  he,  "to  appear  in  place  of  God  be- 


JE.  25.]  RELUCTANCE   TO    TltEACH.  143 

fore  the  people,  and  to  preach  to  them."  As 
they  were  one  day  sitting  in  the  cloister-garden, 
refreshing  themselves  in  the  shade  of  a  certain 
pear-tree,  which  was  a  place  of  frequent  resort, 
the  case  was  long  argued  between  them,  and  Lu- 
ther at  length  yielded.  His  own  account  of  the 
interview  is  thus  given  in  the  Table-Talk:  "I 
had  fifteen  arguments  with  which  I  purposed, 
under  this  pear-tree,  to  refuse  my  vocation ;  but 
they  could  nothing  avail.  At  the  last  I  said, 
'  Dr.  Staupitz,  you  will  be  the  death  of  me,  for  I 
cannot  live  under  it  three  months.'  'Very  well, 
in  God's  name,  go  on !  Our  Lord  God  hath 
many  great  things  to  do :  he  hath  need  of  wise 
folks  in  heaven,  too.' "  He  was,  at  the  time  he 
made  this  remark,  sitting  in  the  same  place  with 
his  friend  Antony  Lauterbach,  who  was  telling- 
how  much  difficulty,  trial  and  weakness,  he  ex- 
perienced in  preaching.  "  My  dear  sir,"  said 
Luther,  "  it  hath  gone  even  so  with  me.  I  had 
as  great  a  dread  and  terror  of  the  pulpit  as  you 
have  ;  yet  was  I  compelled  to  go  right  onward. 
I  was  constrained  to  preach,  and  to  make  a  begin- 
ning in  the  refectory  with  the  brethren.  Oh, 
what  a  horror  I  had  of  the  pulpit !" 

The  spot  where  Luther  first  preached  is  thus 
described  by  Myconius :  "In  the  new  Augustinian 
cloister  at  Wittenberg,  the  foundations  of  a  chapel 
had  indeed  been  laid,  but  the  walls  were  raised  no 
higher  than  to  a  level  with  the  ground.  Within 
them  was  yet  standing  a  little  old  wooden  chapel, 
about  thirty  feet  long  and  twenty  wide,  the  tim- 
bers thereof  being  laid  in  mortar,  very  much  lean- 


144  LIFE    OF    LUTHER.  [1500. 

ing,  and  propped  up  on  all  sides.  In  it  was  a 
little  half-gallery,  old  and  smoky,  in  which  twenty 
men  might  perhaps  stand.  By  the  wall  on  the 
south  side  was  to  be  seen  a  pulpit  of  old  rough- 
hewn  planks,  raised  about  an  ell  and  a  half  from 
the  floor.  ...  In  this  poor  little  chapel  did 
God  cause  his  holy  gospel  and  his  dear  child 
Jesus  to  be  born  anew.  It  was  no  minster  or 
great  cathedral,  though  there  were  many  thou- 
sands of  them,  that  God  chose  for  this  purpose. 
But  soon  this  chapel  was  too  strait,  and  Luther 
was  called  to  preach  in  the  parish  church." 

How  Luther  overcame  his  timidity  in  preaching, 
he  himself  informs  us.  "When  a  preacher  for  the 
first  time  goeth  into  the  pulpit,  no  one  would  be- 
lieve how  fearful  he  is,  he  seeth  so  many  heads 
before  him.  When  I  go  up  into  the  pulpit,  I  do 
not  look  upon  anyone.  I  think  them  to  be  only  so 
many  blocks  before  me,  and  I  speak  out  the  words 
of  my  God." 

Creuziger  once  said  to  Melancthon,  "I  do  not 
like  to  see  you  at  my  lectures."  "Nor  do  I,"  said 
Luther,  "  at  mine,  or  at  my  pulpit  discourses ;  but 
I  bring  .the  cross  right  before  me,  think  Melanc- 
thon, Jonas,  Pomeranus,  &c,  are  not  present,  and 
count  no  one  to  be  wiser  in  the  pulpit  than  my- 
self." Of  his  character  as  preacher,  we  shall 
speak  in  another  place. 


M.  26.]  JOURNEY  TO   ROME.  145 


Section  III. — Journey  to  Rome. 

Luther's  visit  to  Rome  was  of  such  consequence 
to  him,  that  it  demands  our  special  attention.  He 
travelled  on  foot  with  a  brother,  whose  name  is  not 
mentioned,  and,  according  to  general  usage,  passed 
the  nights  in  the  various  convents  of  his  order  that 
lay  in  his  route.  Travelling  as  a  pilgrim  to  the 
holy  apostolical  see,  with  little  intercourse,  except 
with  sequestered  monks,  he  would  not  be  likely 
to  make  all  the  observations  upon  the  countries 
through  which  he  passed,  and  their  inhabitants, 
which  would  be  expected  of  the  curious  traveller. 

The  first  resting-place,  of  which  any  account  is 
preserved,  on  this  journey,  was  at  Heidelberg, 
whither  he  was  accompanied  by  Staupitz.  The 
chronicle  of  that  city  speaks  of  his  visiting  it  "in 
1510,  when  he  was  sent  by  the  convent  of  the 
Augustinians  to  Rome."  While  there,  he  preached, 
and  engaged,  as  was  usual,  with  the  learned  monks, 
in  public  disputations.  His  journey  now  took  a 
south-easterly  direction  through  Suabia  into  Ba- 
varia. Tradition  mentions  Munich  as  one  of  the 
places  at  which  he  called  as  he  proceeded  on  his 
way.  The  last  point  mentioned  in  Germany  is 
Fiissen,  at  the  Tyrol  pass,  and  the  first  in  Italy 
is  Milan.  He  consequently  took  a  south-westerly 
direction  in  crossing  the  Alps,  and  passed  near  to 
Lake  Como. 

Some  of  his  remarks  on  the  character  of  the 
people  and  of  the  countries  which  fell  under- his 
observation   are    not  a  little  amusing.     We  will 

13 


146  LIFE  OF  LUTHER.  [1510. 

quote  his  own  words.  "Were  I  to  travel  much, 
I  would  go  nowhere  of  a  readier  will  than  into 
Suabia  and  Bavaria ;  for  there  the  people  are  kind- 
hearted  and  hospitable,  and  are  forward  to  treat 
strangers  and  pilgrims  charitably,  and  give  them 
full  their  money's  worth."  "When,  in  1510,  I 
was  journeying  to  Rome  through  Milan,  I  per- 
ceived that  a  different  mass-service  was  used 
there,  and  was  told  I  could  not  join  in  the  cele- 
bration, because  they  were  Ambrosians."  He 
speaks  of  Lombardy,  as  "a  goodly  and  pleasant 
country,"  as  "a  valley  a  hundred  miles  wide,  on 
both  sides  of  the  Po,  (which  is  as  wide  as  from 
Wittenberg  to  Prata,)  extending  from  the  Alps  to 
the  Apennines."  He  adds,  "In  Lombardy,  on  the 
Po,  is  a  very  rich  Benedictine  cloister,  with  a 
yearly  income  of  thirty-six  thousand  florins.  Of 
eating  and  feasting  there  is  no  lack,  for  that 
twelve  thousand  florins  are  consumed  upon  guests, 
and  as  large  a  sum  upon  building.  The  residue 
goeth  to  the  convent  and  the  brethren.  I  was  in 
that  cloister,  and  was  received  and  treated  with 
honour."  The  air  of  Italy  was  so  pestilential  that 
it  wTas  necessary  to  exclude  it  entirely,  during  the 
night,  by  closing  the  windows.  "  That,"  said  he, 
"did  I  and  my  brother  experience.  When  we 
were  in  Italy,  (near  Padua,)  on  our  way  to  Rome, 
we  slept  at  one  time  till  six  in  the  morning  with  our 
windows  open,  and  when  we  awoke,  we  found  our 
heads  so  stopped  with  catarrh,  and  so  heavy  and 
void  of  sense,  that  we  could  travel  that  day  but 
only  five  miles."  At  Bologna,  he  was  taken  so 
ill  that  he   despaired  of  recovery.     His  mind  re- 


M.  20.  ]  IN   ROME.  147 

verted  in  its  anxiety  to  the  cardinal  doctrine  of 
his  newly  adopted  creed,  the  only  point  on  which 
a  clear  light  had  begun  to  shine,  and  he  drew 
consolation  from  those  words  which  three  years 
before  gave  new  life  to  his  soul,  "  The  just  shall 
live  by  faith."  During  all  his  journey,  this  me- 
morable passage  would  ever  and  anon  occur  to  his 
memory.  He  speaks  with  admiration  of  the 
Foundling  and  other  excellent  hospitals  which  he 
saw  at  Florence,  and  gives  evident  signs  of  satis- 
faction at  the  honourable  mention  of  the  name  of 
the  Emperor  Frederic,  of  Germany,  whose  sayings 
were  still  preserved  among  the  people.  At  length 
he  came  in  sight  of  Rome,  whereupon,  with  the 
feelings  of  a  pilgrim  who  has  reached  the  hal- 
lowed spot  of  his  most  earnest  longings,  he  fell 
prostrate  to  the  ground,  and  raised  his  hands,  and 
said,  "Hail,  sacred  Rome,  thrice  sacred  for  the 
blood  of  the  martyrs  here  shed !" 

LUTHER   IN   ROME. 

Cicero  and  Julius  Csesar  would  hardly  have 
recognised  the  ecclesiastical  city  which  Luther 
has  just  greeted,  and  with  scarcely  less  difficulty 
would  he  recognise  the  Rome  of  the  present  day. 
Its  hills,  indeed,  are  the  same,  and  the  same  Tiber 
flows  there  still.  But  Alaric,  Genseric,  Ricimer, 
and  Totila  had  been  there,  and  desolation  reigned 
on  many  of  the  seven  hills.  Another  priesthood 
and  a  people  of  another  faith  were  there;  and 
instead  of  the  temples  of  Jupiter  Capitolinus,  of 
Esculapius  and  of  Apollo,  were  to  be  seen  St. 
Peter's,  the  Lateran  and  Santa  Maria  Maggiore. 


148  LIFE    OF    LUTHER.  [1510. 

Modern  Rome  was  not  yet  in  full  existence.  The 
residences  of  the  great  were  still  chiefly  within 
the  angle  made  by  the  curve  of  the  Tiber,  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  Campus  Martius  and  the  Circus. 

Luther  entered  the  Porta  del  Popolo,  its  north- 
ern gate.  Near  it  wTas  the  Augustinian  monastery, 
where  he  is  said  to  have  taken  his  lodgings  and 
to  have  held  mass  as  soon  as  he  entered  the  city. 
On  his  right,  across  the  river,  and  beyond  the 
castle  of  St.  Angelo,  was  seen  the  half-finished 
St.  Peter's,  which  had  been  begun  and  was  now 
carried  on  by  Pope  Julius,  that  lover  of  war  and 
of  architecture.  It  was  finished  at  a  later  period 
by  Leo,  who  was  equally  fond  of  splendour,  and 
who  in  the  arts  of  peace  was  as  heathenish  as  his 
predecessor  was  in  the  arts  of  war.  As  one  enters 
the  gate  above  mentioned,  he  finds  himself  in  a 
square  from  which  diverge  three  long  streets,  in 
nearly  direct  lines,  the  one  on  the  right  running 
to  the  Campus  Martius  and  near  to  the  Pantheon ; 
the  one  in  front  passing  directly  to  the  old  Capitol 
and  Forum ;  the  one  on  the  left  passing  in  a  south- 
easterly direction  across  the  Quirinal  and  Viminal 
hills,  leaving  the  Diocletian  Baths  to  the  left,  and 
extending  to  the  Santa  Maria  Maggiore,  which, 
with  the  Lateran,  are  next  in  splendour  to  St. 
Peter's.  The  Lateran,  the  proper  parish  church 
of  the  pope,  and  "  the  mother  and  head  of  all  the 
churches  of  the  world,"  is  about  half  as  much 
farther,  and  near  the  walls  of  the  city.  Directly 
south  of  this,  and  two  miles  beyond  the  walls,  is 
St.  Sebastian's  church,  built  directly  over  the 
catacombs.     West  from  the  latter,  near  the  bank 


M.  26.]  IN   ROME.  149 

of  the  Tiber   and   a  mile  below  the  city,  is  St. 
Paul's,  next  in  magnitude  to  St.  Peter's. 

This  introductory  view  will  enable  us  to  follow 
Luther  in  his  frequent  visits  to  the  sacred  places 
in  Rome,  and  to  perceive  the  full  import  of  his 
casual  observations.  Fortunately,  a  guide-book 
for  pilgrims — Mirabilia  Romw,  the  Wonders  of 
Home — had  been  prepared  and  was  reprinted  the 
very  year  of  Luther's  pilgrimage.  Of  the  general 
appearance  of  the  cit}r,  he  remarks,  "Rome,  as  it 
now  appeareth,  is  but  a  dead  carcase  compared 
with  its  ancient  splendour.  The  houses  now  rest 
on  ground  as  high  as  the  roofs  once  stood,  so  deep 
are  the  ruins.  This  do  we  perceive  at  the  banks 
of  the  Tiber,  where  the  ruins  reach  perpendicularly 
to  the  length  of  two  spears,  such  as  are  used  by 
our  troops."  "Rome,  where  the  most  magnificent 
buildings  once  stood,  Avas  rased  to  the  ground  by 
the  Goths.  On  the  hill,  and  the  Capitol,  stands  a 
Franciscan  convent."  "  Rome,  as  I  saw  it,  is  full 
five  miles  in  circumference.  The  vestiges  where 
ancient  Rome  stood  can  scarcely  be  traced.  The 
theatre  and  the  Baths  of  Diocletian  are  still  to  be 
seen.  .  .  .  The  erection  of  St.  Peter's  has  lasted 
more  than  thirteen  hundred  years,  (including  the 
old  building,)  and  upon  it  a  huge  sum  of  money 
has  been  expended."  "In  the  Pantheon  at  Rome, 
now  converted  into  a  church,  are  representations 
in  paintings  of  all  the  gods.  .  .  .  When  I  was 
there,  I  saw  this  church.  It  had  no  windows,  but 
was  one  high  vault,  with  an  opening  above  to 
admit   the   light,      It   had   large   marble  pillars, 

13* 


150  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1510. 

which  could  hardly  be  compassed  by  two  men 
with  their  arms  extended." 

Luther  visited  Rome  as  a  pilgrim.  Twice  while 
in  Erfurt  had  he  vowed  to  make  a  pilgrimage  to 
Rome ;  and  he  himself  affirms  that  he  made  the 
journey  in  consequence  of  his  vows.  This  state- 
ment does  not,  however,  stand  in  the  way  of  his 
having  other  objects  to  accomplish  at  the  same 
time.  Rome  was  then  regarded  as  second  only 
to  Jerusalem  in  sacredness.  The  soil  was  sup- 
posed to  be  hallowed,  not  only  by  the  graves  of 
thousands  of  martyrs,  and  many  Roman  bishops, 
but  of  the  apostles  Peter  and  Paul.  Pilgrims 
came  in  multitudes,  sometimes  two  hundred  thou- 
sand at  a  time,  to  visit  this  sacred  city. 

"  The  Wonders  of  Rome  "  (the  guide-book  already 
mentioned)  describes  the  stations,  the  relics  and  the 
indulgences,  especially  those  connected  with  the 
seven  principal  churches.  The  Lateran  church 
had  power  to  give  as  many  days  of  indulgence  as 
the  drops  of  rain  which  would  fall  in  three  days 
and  nights.  Each  chapel  belonging  to  the  group 
of  the  Lateran  buildings,  each  altar  and  relic,  had, 
moreover,  its  particular  number  of  indulgences. 
Instructions  are  given  how  to  deliver  souls  from 
purgatory  by  means  of  Pater  nostcrs  and  Ave 
Marias.  When  Luther  was  there  paying  his  de- 
votions, with  frantic  zeal  like  the  rest  of  the  in- 
fatuated multitude,  he  regretted,  as  he  says,  that 
his  father  and  mother  were  both  living,  so  desirous 
was  he  to  release  their  souls  from  purgatory.  He 
afterward  alludes  to  this  insane  passion  with 
bitter  scorn  and  contempt,  saying,  "How  gladly 


M.  26.]  IN   ROME.  151 

would  1  then  have  made  my  mother  happy,  but 
was  denied  the  opportunity,  and  must  content  my- 
self with  a  good  dried  herring !"  "  Such  a  foolish 
saint  was  I,  running  to  all  the  churches  and  sepul- 
chres, and  believing  all  the  pitiable  stories  that 
were  told  me." 

According  to  the  same  book,  one  may  obtain 
every  day  at  the  high  altar  of  St.  Peter's  eighteen 
years'  indulgence  and  eighteen  carcnas,  each  carena 
being  equal  to  seven  years  and  forty  days'  fasting. 
All  the  past  sins  of  every  visitor  who  comes  with 
good  intention  can  be  forgiven.  He  who  devoutly 
goes  up  and  down  the  stairway  to  St.  Peter's,  has 
a  thousand  years'  indulgence  in  respect  to  penance 
imposed;  and  seven  times  as  much  if  he  look  at 
the  handkerchief  of  St.  Veronica,  containing  the 
likeness  of  the  Saviour.  Luther  went  up  those 
stairs  on  his  knees  to  obtain  the  large  indulgence 
promised;  but  while  he  was  so  doing,  a  voice  like 
j  thunder  seemed  to  say  to  him,  "  The  just  shall 
live  by  faith."  No  wonder  that  his  former  expe- 
rience should  come  up  like  a  spectre  before  him, 
and  rebuke  his  idolatrous  worship.  His  mind 
was  then  like  a  field  overgrown  with  briers  and 
thorns,  in  which,  however,  one  good  germ  had 
taken  root,  that  was  soon  to  produce  a  great  fruit- 
bearing  tree — one  which  should  overshadow  all 
the  rest  and  take  up  the  strength  of  the  soil. 

In  regard  to  the  pretended  handkerchief  which 
St.  Veronica  i<  said  to  have  given  to  Christ  in  his 
agony  to  wipe  oil'  his  sweat,  and  upon  which,  when 
applied  to  his  face,  his  likeness  was  miraculously 
impressed,  Luther  remarks,  evidently  from  per- 


152  LIFE    OF   LUTHER.  [1510. 

sonal  observation:  "It  is  nothing  but  a  black 
square  board,  with  a  cloth  hung  before  it,  and 
before  that  another,  which  is  raised  when  the 
Veronica  is  shown.  The  poor  besotted  pilgrim 
can  see  nothing  but  a  cloth  before  a  black  tablet. 
That  is  what  they  call  seeing  the  Veronica;  and 
with  such  low  falsehoods  are  connected  great  de- 
votion and  -large  indulgences."  There  was  never 
such  a  person  as  Veronica;  and  the  name  was 
unknown  till  the  Middle  Ages.  It  is  the  corrup- 
tion, as  Mabillon  and  others  have  shown,  of  the 
two  words  vera  and  icon,  a  true  image,  which  were 
inscribed  beneath  paintings  of  Christ's  countenance 
upon  cloth. 

Luther,  while  credulously  gazing  at  such  sacred 
relics  in  St.  Peter's  church,  saw  also  the  heads  of 
the  apostles  Peter  and  Paul  in  the  court  before 
the  church.  "  They  boast  at  Rome  of  having  the 
heads  of  Peter  and  Paul,  and  show  them  as  sacred 
relics,  though  they  are  nothing  but  wooden  heads, 
made  by  a  bungling  artist.  I  can  boldly  affirm, 
according  to  what  I  myself  have  seen  and  heard 
at  Rome,  that  no  one  there  knows  where  the 
bodies  of  St.  Paul  and  Peter  lie.  .  .  .  The  popes 
show  every  year  (on  St.  Peter  and  Paul's  day) 
to  the  blind  and  silly  populace  two  heads  of  Peter 
and  Paul,  carved  in  wood,  and  would  fain  make 
them  believe  that  these  are  the  veritable  skulls 
of  Peter  and  Paul;  and  on  the  altar  where  these 
heads  are  preserved,  the  palliums  of  the  bishops 
are  consecrated." 

Of  the  catacombs  of  Rome,  which  extended  all 
along  the  eastern  part  of  the  city  and  the  adja- 


JE.  20. J  IX   ROME.  153 

cent  country,  from  the  church  of  St.  Sebastian 
or  St.  Calixtus  to  that  of  St.  Agnes  without  the 
walls,  Luther  speaks  more  than  once.  They  evi- 
dently filled  his  imagination,  as  well  they  might, 
more  completely  than  any  thing  else  he  saw  at 
Rome.  In  early  times,  great  excavations  were 
made  under  the  city  to  furnish  stone  and  sand  for 
building.  In  this  complete  net-work  of  subterra- 
nean passages,  the  Christians  secreted  themselves 
•  luring  the  persecutions,  buried  all  their  dead 
there  for  two  or  three  centuries,  placing  them  in 
niches  at  the  sides  of  the  passages ;  and  built 
small  chapels  near  the  bodies  of  the  martyrs, 
where  they  resorted  for  prayers  and  the  commu- 
nion service. 

Thus,  while  pagan  Rome  was  in  the  light  of 
day  above,  riving  in  splendour  and  luxury,  and 
putting  the  Christians  to  death,  or  driving  them 
from  the  abodes  of  men,  Christian  Rome,  beneath 
the  surface  of  the  earth,  "the  church  in  the  ca- 
tacombs," as  Maitland  calls  it,  was  preparing  to 
come  forth  from  her  caverns  and  take  possession 
of  the  city  above.  "At  Rome,"  says  Luther, 
"by  the  church  of  St.  Calixtns  (or  St.  Sebastian) 
lie  in  one  vault,  as  is  said,  more  than  eight  thou- 
sand martyrs,  and  that  is  a  most  sacred  spot. 
Under  the  church,  enclosed  in  sarcophagi,  lie  one 
hundred  and  sevent y-six  thousand  holy  bodies, 
and  forty-five  popes  who  were  martyrs.  The 
place  is  called  the  Crypt.  For  full  three  hundred 
years  did  the  persecutions  rage;  and  they  rose  to 
such  a  pitch  of  fury  that,  as  we  learn  from  his- 
tory, seventy  thousand  martyrs  were  slain  in  the 


154  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1510. 

empire  in  one  day.  There  is  still  to  be  seen  at 
Rome  a  burial-place,  where,  as  it  is  said,  eighty 
thousand  martyrs  and  forty-six  bishops  lie."  The 
exaggeration  in  these  accounts  which  were  given 
to  Luther  consists  not  so  much  in  the  numbers 
of  the  dead  as  in  pronouncing  them,  on  fallacious 
grounds,  martyrs.  These  catacombs,  which  were 
closed  in  Luther's  time,  as  they  had  been  during 
all  the  Middle  Ages,  have  since  been  opened,  and 
their  contents,  containing  a  wonderful  history  in 
the  inscriptions,  placed  in  the  Vatican. 

But  Luther  saw  other  things  which  shocked  his 
feelings,  though  they  did  not  then  shake  his  faith. 
Afterward,  when  he  came  to  understand  the  true 
character  of  the  papacy,  the  recollections  of  what 
he  had  seen  at  Rome  were  constantly  springing 
up  in  his  mind  as  illustrations  of  the  most  shock- 
ing corruption  of  the  church.  "The  pope,"  he 
observes,  "moves  as  if  making  a  triumphal  entry, 
with  beautiful  and  richly  caparisoned  horses  be- 
fore him,  and  he  himself  bears  the  sacrament 
upon  a  splendid  white  palfrey."  "At  Rome, 
when  they  pronounce  the  ban  of  excommunica- 
tion, about  twenty  cardinals  sit  and  throw  from 
them  burning  torches,  extinguishing  them  by  the 
cast,  thereby  showing  that  the  well-being  and  sal- 
vation of  the  persons  so  excommunicated  will  be 
extinguished  in  like  manner.  And  (as  a  little 
bell  was  rung  at  the  same  time)  this  ceremony 
was  called  lighting  and  tinkling  a  man."  Little 
did  Luther  think  while  learning  such  things  at 
Rome  that  he  was  one  day  to  be  thus  "  lighted 
and  tinkled."     In  another  place  he  says,  "I  have 


2E.  20.]  IN   ROME.  155 

been  in  Rome,  have  held  many  mass-services  there, 
and  have  seen  others  hold  many  in  a  way  that 
filleth  me  with  horror  when  I  think  thereupon." 
In  the  following,  he  seems  to  speak  as  one  who 
had  been  an  eye-witness  :  "  What  Christian  can, 
without  pain,  observe  that  the  pope,  when  he  is 
to  partake  of  the  communion,  sitteth  still  like  a 
gracious  Lord,  and  maketh  a  cardinal,  with  bended 
knee,  reach  to  him  the  sacrament  in  a  golden 
tube?" 

He  speaks  of  the  revolting  licentiousness  which 
prevailed  even  among  the  cardinals  whom  he  saw, 
and  pronounces  the  Roman  court  a  brothel.  He 
adds,  "  I  myself  have  heard  people  say  openly  in 
the  streets  of  Rome,  if  there  be  a  hell,  Rome  is 
built  upon  it."  He  once  said  he  would  not  take 
one  hundred  thousand  florins  for  what  he  had  seen 
at  Rome  ;  "  we  speak  of  what  we  have  seen." 

Still  all  these  abominations  did  not  alienate 
Luther  from  the  Roman  church.  He  revered 
her,  in  spite  of  the  sins  of  pope  and  cardinal, 
monk  and  priest.  As  late  as  1519,  he  could  say, 
"The  Roman  church  is  honoured  of  God  above 
all  others.  .  .  .  There  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul,  and 
forty-six  popes  and  many  thousand  martyrs  did 
shed  their  blood.  .  .  .  Though,  alas !  it  is  not  as  it 
should  be  at  Rome,  notwithstanding  there  is,  and 
can  be,  no  reason  for  separating  from  it." 


156  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1510. 


Section  IV. — Luther  at  Wittenberg  again. 

Of  his  return  from  Rome,  and  of  his  studies 
and  occupations  for  the  next  succeeding  year  or 
two,  but  little  is  known.  The  first  important 
event  after  that  period  is  his  promotion  in  the- 
ology, in  1512.  He  had  taken  the  second  degree, 
or  that  of  sententiarius,  during  the  interval,  pro- 
bably in  1511,  both  at  Wittenberg  and  at  Erfurt. 
Of  the  singular  dispute  which  afterward  arose 
between  him  and  the  monks  of  Erfurt  on  this 
subject,  mention  will  be  made  elsewhere. 

Staupitz,  who  had  interested  himself  so  deeply 
in  Luther's  welfare  ever  since  his  first  acquaint- 
ance with  him,  and  who,  for  the  benefit  of  the 
church,  had  undertaken  to  guide  his  steps,  was 
not  disappointed  in  the  hopes  he  had  entertained 
of  his  young  friend.  He  had  already  made  him 
reader  at  table  in  the  monastery,  substituting  the 
Scriptures  in  the  place  of  Augustine's  writings, 
which  had  hitherto  been  read  to  the  monks  during 
meal-times.  He  was  raised  to  the  rank  of  licen- 
tiate in  theology,  (the  next  degree  above  senten- 
tiarius,) the  4th  of  October,  1512,  and  finally  to 
the  degree  of  doctor  of  divinity,  on  the  19th  of 
the  same  month.  His  reluctance  to  receive  this 
honour,  (or  rather  office  as  it  then  was.)  appears 
to  have  been  not  less  than  that  which  he  felt 
when  it  was  proposed  to  make  him  preacher.  It 
was  manifested  in  a  similar  way,  and  overcome  by 
similar  arguments.  In  his  letter  of  invitation  to 
the  Erfurt  convent  to  attend  the  ceremony,  he 


M.  128.]  AT  WITTENBERG.  157 

says  lie  is  to  receive  the  degree  "  out  of  obedience 
to  the  fathers  and  the  vicar."  In  a  dedicatory 
epistle  to  the  Elector  Frederic,  written  several 
years  after,  he  says,  "At  your  expense  was  the 
doctor's  hat  placed  upon  my  witless  head,  an 
honour  at  which  I  blush,  but  wThich  I  am  con- 
strained to  bear,  because  those  whom  it  is  my 
duty  to  obey  would  have  it  so."  Among  the 
letters  of  Luther  is  found  the  receipt  which  lie 
signed  for  the  fifty  florins  furnished  him  by  the 
elector  for  paying  the  costs  of  the  degree.  A 
doctor's  ring  of  massive  gold  was  presented  to 
him  by  the  elector  at  the  same  time,  which  is  still 
to  be  seen  in  the  library  of  Wolfenbiittel.  On 
the  19th  of  October  the  ceremony  was  performed 
with  great  pomp,  with  solemn  procession  and  the 
ringing  of  the  great  bell.  This  appointment — for 
it  was  not  a  mere  honour — given  him  by  the 
united  voice  of  his  religious  superiors,  his  sove- 
reign and  the  university,  he  construed,  and  ever 
after  regarded,  as  a  Divine  call  to  teach  religion 
in  the  niosl  public  manner.  "I  was  called,"  says 
he,  "and  forced  to  the  office,  and  was  obliged, 
from  the  duty  of  obedience,  to  be  doctor  contrary 
to  my  will,  .  .  .  and  to  promise  with  an  oath  to 
teach  purel}'  and  sincerely  according  to  the  Scrip- 
tures." Tubingen  and  Wittenberg  were  the  only 
universities  wdiere  such  an  oath  was  required. 
Under  this  oath,  administered  to  him  by  Carl- 
stadt,  Luther  claimed  the  right  to  appeal  to  the 
Bible  as  the  only  ultimate  authority,  and  thus 
formally  did  he  plant  himself  upon  the  funda- 
mental principle  of  Protestantism. 

14 


158  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1512. 

At  the  time,  both  he  and  the  highest  authori- 
ties, secular  and  ecclesiastical,  supposed  there  was 
a  substantial  agreement  between  the  teachings  of 
the  church  and  those  of  the  Bible.  When  he  be- 
came thoroughly  convinced  of  the  contrary,  he 
adhered  to  the  letter  of  the  oath,  and  turned  it 
against  the  very  power  that  had  exacted  it.  He 
even  burnt  the  papal  bull,  as  he  says,  "  because 
his  title,  office,  station  and  oath  required  him  to 
overthrow  or  ward  off  false,  dangerous  and  un- 
christian doctrines  !"  Thus  when  his  enemies  as- 
sailed him  as  a  disobedient  son  of  the  church,  he 
availed  himself  of  this  defence.  When  Satan 
sorely  pressed  him  with  doubts  and  temptations 
in  respect  to  the  great  commotion  which  he  was 
the  means  of  exciting  in  the  Christian  world,  his 
heart  found  assurance  and  his  conscience  relief, 
in  recurring  to  his  public  and  formal  call.  In  re- 
ference to  this  matter  he  remarks  :  "  At  the  com- 
mand of  the  pope  and  of  the  emperor,  (botli  of 
whom  had  given  to  the  university  authority  to 
confer  degrees,)  and  in  a  regular  and  free  uni- 
versity, (its  freedom,  too,  had  been  conceded  to 
the  elector,)  I  began,  as  became  a  doctor  who  had 
taken  an  oath  to  that  effect,  to  explain  the  Scrip- 
tures before  the  world,  .  .  .  and  having  begun  thus 
to  do,  I  had  cause  to  continue,  and  cannot  now 
with  a  good  conscience  go  back  or  break  off,  even 
though  pope  and  emperor  should  put  me  under 
the  ban."  Whether  all  his  reasoning  on  the 
subject  was  strictly  correct  or  not,  he  was  evi- 
dently very  conscientious  about  it.  He  affirms 
that  he  had  limes  of  distress  in  relation  to  this 


M.  29.]  AT  WITTENBERG.  159 

point,  whcai  he  felt  the  perspiration  start  all  over 
him. 

The  period  of  about  two  years  immediately  fol- 
lowing the  date  above  mentioned,  appears  to  have 
been  chiefly  taken  up  in  preparing  for  his  lec- 
tures, and  in  acquiring  the  original  languages  of 
the  Bible.  The  only  events  mentioned  in  con- 
nection with  him  during  that  time,  are  a  dispu- 
tation, in  1512,  by  a  candidate  for  the  first  degree 
in  theology,  and  another  in  1513,  for  the  second 
degree,  at  both  of  wdiich  he  was  the  presiding 
officer.  Such  things  were  of  frequent  occurrence 
with  him  at  a  later  period.  Inasmuch  as  it  is 
evident  that  Luther  knew  little  of  Greek  or  He- 
brew before  the  year  1513,  whereas  wre  find  him 
making  use  of  both  with  some  facility  the  next 
year,  the  inference  is  plain,  that  he  must  have 
studied  them  zealously  about  this  time.  Mathe- 
sius  represents  Luther  as  "  spelling  out  the  words 
of  the  Bible"  after  he  commenced  lecturing  upon 
it.  The  first  books  on  which  he  lectured  were 
the  Epistle  to  the  Romans  and  the  Psalms,  which, 
the  same  biographer  informs  us,  took  place  imme- 
diately after  he  was  made  doctor.  How  admi- 
rably would  lecturing  on  thai  epistle  agree  with 
the  Ions:  and  hard  struggle  'through  which  his 
mind  had  passed  on  the  subject  of  justification  ; 
and  howT  well  was  such  an  exercise  adapted  to 
prepare  him  for  his  great  work  as  reformer!  In 
the  Psalms,  too,  so  peculiarly  a  book  of  the  heart, 
how  much  would  a  man  of  Luther's  ardent,  de- 
vout and  poetical  mind,  discover  to  be  just  what 
his  religious  necessities  called  for !     Here  we  find 


1G0  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1513. 

in  part  the  secret  of  his  great  success  as  a  uni- 
versity lecturer.  He  not  only  brought  to  light 
treasures  of  spiritual  knowledge  from  an  almost 
forgotten  book,  but  treated  of  those  subjects  in 
which  his  whole  soul  felt  a  vital  interest,  and 
that,  too,  in  the  ardour  of  acquisition  both  as  a 
scholar  and  as  a  Christian. 

"  These  writings,"  (the  Epistle  to  the  Ro- 
mans and  the  Psalms,)  says  Melancthon,  "he 
explained  after  such  a  sort  that,  in  the  estima- 
tion of  all  pious  and  intelligent  persons,  a  new 
day,  succeeding  a  long  night  of  darkness,  was 
dawning  upon  the  Christian  doctrines."  Plis  earn- 
est discussions,  in  which  he  clearly  distinguished 
between  law  and  gospel,  justification  by  works 
and  justification  by  faith,  opened  a  new  world  of 
ideas  to  the  student.  Still  his  interpretations, 
judged  by  a  modern  standard,  must  often  ap- 
pear imperfect. 

Let  us  here  pause  a  moment  and  contemplate 
the  position  he  now  held.  He  had  fully  adopted 
the  two  great  Protestant  principles  of  justifica- 
tion by  faith  in  Christ,  and  the  right  of  private 
judgment  in  interpreting  the  Scriptures ;  but  ho 
was  by  no  means  aware  that  these  were  the 
germs  of  a  new  order  of  things  which  could  not 
be  developed  without  separating  him  from  the 
church.  Meantime  he  was  becoming  a  bold, 
strong  and  independent  thinker,  and  beginning 
already,  without  directly  intending  it,  to  wield 
a  commanding  and  renovating  influence  over  his 
pupils  and  friends.  Others,  who  had  opposed 
the    church,   had   fixed   their    e}re   primarily  on 


M.  29.]  AT  WITTENBERG.  161 

certain  evils,  and  begun,  of  set  purpose,  to  ope- 
rate against  them,  using  religion  as  a  means  only 
to  that  end,  and  thereby  became  but  negative  re- 
formers. Such  were  the  promoters  of  classical 
learning,  who  were  offended  at  the  ignorance  and 
stupidity  of  the  clergy,  and  many  of  the  actors 
at  the  councils  of  Constance  and  Basle,  who  were 
more  anxious  to  crush  the  power  of  the  pope  and 
correct  public  abuses  than  to  revive  a  spirit  of 
primitive  piety.  But  Luther  first  fed,  for  a  long 
time,  the  flame  of  experimental  religion  in  his 
own  heart,  and  then  spread  the  fire  by  his  con- 
versations and  lectures,  and  thus  became  the  in- 
strument of  a  regenerating  movement,  by  merely 
unfolding  and  expounding  the  religious  elements 
which  he  brought  with  him  from  the  convent  of 
Erfurt. 

In  the  Wolfenbuttel  library  is  preserved  Lu- 
ther's copy  of  the  Psalms  in  Hebrew^,  printed  on 
a  quarto  page,  in  the  centre  of  which  stands  the 
Hebrew  text,  with  wide  spaces  between  the  lines. 
On  the  broad  margin  and  between  the  lines  are 
to  be  seen  the  notes,  in  Latin,  of  his  first  lec- 
tures on  this  book,  delivered  probably  in  1513. 
It  is  believed  that  he  caused  copies  to  be  printed 
in  this  form  for  the  greater  convenience  of  the 
students  in  taking  notes  and  connecting  them 
with  the  words  of  the  text.  The  great  value 
of  this  singular  book  consists  in  the  record  it 
contains  of  Luther's  religious  and  theological 
viewTs  at  that  period.  Jurgens,  who  has  care- 
fully examined  this  earliest  of  Luther's  Scrip- 
ture expositions  which  have  been  preserved — it 

14* 


162  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1513. 

exists  only  in  manuscript,  and  in  Luther's  hand- 
writing— remarks  :  "  It  contains  the  clearest  in- 
dications how  little  Luther  had  advanced  in  bibli- 
cal interpretation ;  and  yet  it  occasionally  points 
to  the  way  in  which  lie  afterward  became  so 
eminent  as  an  expositor  of  Scripture.  We  refer 
particularly  to  his  disposition  to  go  back  to  the 
original  sources.  But  he  appears  still  to  be 
without  a  competent  knowledge  of  the  Hebrew. 
He  makes  use  of  a  defective  Latin  translation, 
agreeing  with  the  Vulgate,  and  adheres  closely 
to  it,  though  he  knows  the  Hebrew  text,  and 
constantly  refers  to  it  as  well  as  to  the  Greek 
version."  We  find  him,  as  he  is  represented  by 
these  notes,  still  a  perfect  monk,  filled  with  all 
the  monastic  notions  and  superstitions ;  in  his 
interpretation,  given  to  allegory  and  conceits, 
except  on  two  or  three  points  where  he  becomes 
luminous,  which  circumstance  gives  to  the  whole 
the  appearance  of  a  morning  twilight  with  its  at- 
tendant indications  of  approaching  day.  We  must 
constantly  keep  this  in  mind ;  for  with  him,  the 
dawning  light  approached  slowly,  and  for  ten 
years  it  was  dark  in  the  west  after  the  east  was 
streaked  with  reel. 

It  is  now  time  to  notice  more  particularly  his 
misunderstanding  with  the  university  at  Erfurt. 
It  seems  that  after  he  had  taken  his  second  de- 
gree in  theology  in  Wittenberg,  complaints  were 
made  from  Erfurt,  where  he  had  received  his 
education,  and  that  he  consequently  postponed 
lecturing  on  those  subjects  for  which  that  degree 
was  regarded  as  a  license,  and  went  to  Erfurt, 


M.  30.]  AT  WITTENBERG.  163 

and  with  some  difficulty  obtained  the  degree 
there.  Three  or  four  years  afterward,  some 
monks  of  that  city,  who  envied  his  growing  re- 
putation, attempted  to  humble  him  by  circulat- 
ing reports  unfavourable  to  his  integrity,  and 
by  going  back  to  that  old  difficulty  to  rake  up 
evidence  against  him. 

As  the  correspondence  contains  some  of  the 
earliest  indications  of  the  slumbering  lion  that 
was  in  him,  it  will  be  a  matter  of  interest  to 
glance  at  its  character.  The  affair  itself  remains 
in  great  obscurity.  Only  two  letters  of  Luther's 
are  extant  to  give  us  any  light  on  the  subject ; 
and  of  these  but  one  is  published.  The  new 
complaint  was,  that  Luther,  in  taking  the  degree 
of  doctor  in  divinity  at  Wittenberg  instead  of 
Erfurt,  had  violated  an  oath  he  had  taken  when 
he  received  the  degree  of  master  in  theology,  or 
sententiarius,  at  the  latter  place.  The  accusation 
was  made  by  a  certain  master  Nathin,  who  was 
both  an  inmate  of  the  convent  and  a  teacher  in 
the  university. 

Luther's  first  letter  on  the  subject  is  dated 
June  16,  1514,  and  is  directed  to  the  prior  and 
seniors  of  the  Erfurt  convent.  In  this  he  refers 
to  two  preceding  letters,  now  lost,  in  which  he 
had  refuted  the  charges  falsely  brought  against 
him.  There  was,  indeed,  a  law  in  the  Erfurt 
University  requiring  that  he  who  should  receive 
the  first  degree  in  theology  there,  should  take 
an  oath  to  receive  the  second  there  also;  and 
he  who  received  the  second  was  to  do  the  same 
in  regard  to  the  degree  of  doctor  of  divinity.     He 


164  LIFE    OF    LUTHER.  [1614. 

exculpated  himself  by  saying  that  he  never  took 
the  first  degree  at  Erfurt,  but  at  Wittenberg; 
and  that,  in  taking  the  second,  nothing  was  said 
or  done  about  the  oath.  The  irregularity,  there- 
fore, was  on  the  part  of  his  accusers,  and  not  on 
his.     But  let  us  hear  his  own  words  : 

"  Although  I  have  heard  and  read  sundry  evil 
reports  spread  by  some  of  your  convent  which 
make  against  you,  and  more  particularly  against 
myself;  yet,  by  the  late  letters  of  master  John 
Nathin,  written  in  the  name  of  you  all,  by  his 
falsehoods,  his  biting  words,  his  bitter  provoca- 
tions and  reproaches,  I  was  so  disturbed  that  I 
came  near  pouring  out,  after  the  example  of  mas- 
ter Paltz,  both  upon  him  and  upon  the  whole  con- 
vent, the  full  vials  of  my  wrath  and  indignation. 
For  this  cause  I  wrote  unto  you  two  foolish  let- 
ters. I  know  not  whether  they  came  into  your 
hands,  and  should  soon  have  sent  you  the  hidden 
mystery  thereof,  had  not  that  slanderous  tongue 
been  silenced  by  your  convocation.  I  am,  there- 
fore, constrained  to  excuse  many  of  you,  nay, 
most  of  you.  If,  then,  you  were  in  any  degree 
offended,  or  if  some  of  you  find  yourselves  men- 
tioned by  name  in  those  letters,  take  in  good 
part  what  I  have  done,  and  reckon  it  all  to  the 
account  of  the  bitter  things  which  master  Nathin 
did  write.  For  my  vehement  indignation  was 
just.  But  now  do  I  hear  what  is  yet  worse, 
that  this  same  man  everywhere  proclaimeth,  I 
know  not  on  what  grounds,  that  I  am  a  perjured 
and  infamous  person.  I  request  you,  since  I  fear 
you  cannot  stop  his  mouth,  to   avoid  him,  and 


JE.  30.]  AT  WITTENBERG.  1G5 

warn  others  not  to  regard  his  speeches.  I  have 
violated  no  oath,  for  I  was  promoted  in  another 
place.  Both  the  universities  and  you  all  know 
that  I  did  not  receive  my  biblical  degree,  wherein 
the  oath  is  taken,  at  Erfurt.  Nor  am  I  conscious 
of  ever  having  taken  any  oath  in  my  whole  course. 
My  degree  of  sententiarius  I  did,  in  truth,  take 
at  Erfurt ;  but  no  one,  I  trow,  will  affirm  that  I 
took  any  oath.  But  what  master  Nathin  hath 
yet  to  hear  from  me,  concerning  the  authority 
given  unto  me  to  teach  and  to  govern,  (when 
the  degree  was  conferred,)  will  perhaps  be  seen 
at  the  proper  time.  I  write  these  things,  most 
excellent  fathers,  to  the  end  that  the  Erfurt 
theologians  may  not  look  upon  me  as  a  despiser 
of  their  university ;  to  which,  as  to  a  mother,  I 
attribute  all  that  1  have.  I  have  not  contemned 
them,  nor  will  I  ever,  although  my  abode  and  pro- 
motion elsewhere  have  separated  me  from  them. 
The  convent  could  then,  with  a  word,  have  pre- 
vented both  of  these  events,  if  it  had  desired. 
But  what  it  could  then  do,  but  would  not,  it 
cannot  now  do,  if  it  would.  Thus,  it  hath  pleased 
God  to  bring  to  nought  the  dissensions  and  threat- 
enings  of  them  that  were  asking  for  vengeance. 
But  let  them  go  on.  I  am  at  peace  and  recon- 
ciled unto  you  all,  though  I  was  offended.  God 
hath  singularly  blessed  me,  unworthy  as  I  am,  so 
that  I  have  cause  only  to  rejoice,  to  love,  and  to 
do  good  to  them  that  deserve  the  contrary  of  me, 
just  as  I  receive  of  the  Lord  the  contrary  of  what 
I  deserve.  I  therefore  pray  }'ou  to  be  resigned, 
and  lay  aside  bitterness,  if  any  remains,  and  not 


1GG  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1514. 

to  be  disturbed  by  my  connection  with  another 
university,  for  so  God  would  have  it,  and  we 
cannot  resist  him." 

The  other  letter  was  written  in  January  of 
1515,  and  directed  to  the  theological  faculty  of 
the  university.  It  enters  more  into  particulars, 
which  we  must  pass  over  with  the  single  remark 
that  it  states  the  fact  of  his  having  been  called 
to  Erfurt  to  be  examined  in  respect  to  the  degree 
of  sententiarins,  which  he  had  received  at  Witten- 
berg, and  which,  after  much  difficulty,  was  con- 
firmed at  Erfurt.  Nathin,  of  course,  had  con- 
tinued his  opposition,  till  the  university  was  so 
far  affected  by  his  representations  that  it  was 
necessary  for  Luther  to  exculpate  himself  before 
them. 

In  the  tone  of  these  letters,  we  look  in  vain  for 
the  spirit  of  the  once  timid  and  submissive  monk. 
He  comes  forward,  single-handed,  against  a  host, 
with  a  sense  of  his  rights,  and  a  consciousness 
not  only  of  his  innocence,  but  of  his  power.  With 
a  desire  for  peace,  and  the  olive  leaf  in  his  hand, 
he,  at  the  same  time,  gives  no  doubtful  indications 
that  he  is  prepared  for  war.  Here  we  see  the 
same  Luther  that  could  stand  up  alone  at  the  diet 
of  Worms,  and  speak  without  fear  before  emperor 
and  princes  and  cardinals. 

Something  more  than  the  mere  habit  of  lectur- 
ing had  contributed  to  this  result,  in  respect  to 
his  present  boldness  of  character.  His  biogra- 
phers state  that  he  had  held  frequent  public  dis- 
putations with  his  colleagues,  and  that  in  these 
he  always  came  off  triumphant.     The  reason  of 


M.  30.]  IN  WITTENBERG.  167 

his  meeting  so  much  opposition  was,  that  he  ad- 
vocated new  and  strange  views;  and  the  reason 
of  his  being  victorious  wras,  as  wTell  that  he  was 
in  the  right,  as  that  he  knew  how  to  maintain  his 
ground.  He  openly  assailed  the  authority  of 
Aristotle  in  theology,  on  whom  the  sententiarists 
mainly  relied.  Carlstadt  and  Truttvetter,  in  par- 
ticular, disputed  him. 

The  point  in  debate  wras  fundamental.  It  re- 
lated, as  Luther  says,  to  first  principles,  namely, 
wdiether  the  doctrines  of  the  schoolmen,  who  fol- 
lowed Aristotle,  were  to  be  received  on  the  as- 
sumption that  they  were  true,  and  argument  to 
proceed  from  them  as  from  well-settled  principles ; 
or,  whether  these  doctrines  were  themselves  to 
be  called  in  question,  and  examined  anew  in  the 
light  of  Scripture  and  of  reason.  Both  parties 
were  well  aware  that  on  this  hinge  turned  all  the 
questions  between  the  old  and  the  new,  the  scho- 
lastic and  the  biblical  views  of  theology.  Luther 
fought  out  the  battle  with  gigantic  strength.  He 
completely  converted  Carlstadt  and  the  other 
young  theologians  to  his  biblical  doctrines.  Trutt- 
vetter, his  old  teacher,  not  being  able  to  maintain 
his  position,  and  not  being  willing  to  succumb  to 
his  own  pupil,  retired  from  the  conflict,  and  went 
back  to  Erfurt  in  1513.  Luther  afterward  sup- 
posed he  was  the  innocent  cause  of  hastening  the 
death  of  that  sturdy  old  scholastic  divine. 

In  all  this  it  is  easy  to  find  an  explanation  of 
the  perfectly  independent  and  decided  tone  with 
which  Luther  stood  up  and  declared  thai  he  could 
but  just  refrain  from  "pouring  out  the  full  vials 


168  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1515. 

of  his  "wrath  against  the  whole  convent;"  and, 
perhaps,  the  return  of  Truttvetter,  under  such 
circumstances,  to  the  University  of  Erfurt,  will 
suggest  at  least  one  reason  why  the  calumny  of 
Nathin  should  be  listened  to  there,  after  it  had 
been  put  down  at  the  convent. 

The  little  information  we  have  respecting  Lu- 
ther from  the  beginning  of  1515,  to  the  beginning 
of  1516,  may  be  regarded  as  indirect  evidence 
that  he  was  going  steadily  and  prosperously  on  in 
the  course  he  had  begun,  constantly  accumulating 
that  power  and  influence  which  was  so  soon  to  be 
put  in  requisition.  The  interest  he  felt  in  the 
controversy  which  was  then  raging  between 
Reuchlin  and  the  stupid  Dominicans  at  Cologne, 
in  respect  to  the  utility  of  the  study  of  the  He- 
brew and  Greek  languages,  and  the  advancement 
which  he  himself  made  in  the  knowledge  of  these 
languages  about  this  time,  put  it  beyond  doubt 
that  the  lectures  which  he  delivered  on  the  vari- 
ous books  of  the  Bible  were  founded,  more  and 
more,  on  the  original  Hebrew  and  Greek  Scrip- 
tures. He  also  continued  earnestly  engaged  in 
academic  disputations,  for,  from  some  of  the  older 
professors,  he  still  met  with  opposition.  During 
this  year,  he  was  made  dean  of  the  theological 
faculty,  and  under  him,  according  to  the  university 
records,  a  large  number  of  Augustinian  eremites 
received  their  degrees  in  theology.  Odelkop,  who 
heard  his  lectures,  particularly  those  on  the  Epis- 
tle to  the  Romans,  at  this  time,  says  Luther  dili- 
gently prosecuted  his  studies  and  preached,  and 
delivered  lectures  and  held  debates.     In  this  year 


M.  32.]  AT   WITTENBERG.  169 

were  preached  the  first  three  discourses  of*  his 
which  have  been  preserved.  In  these  he  mani- 
fests decided  progress  in  the  clearness  and  solidity 
of  his  religious  views.  In  the  first  of  those  dis- 
courses, he  strongly  urges  the  doctrine,  that  piety 
consists  not  in  outward  works,  but  in  an  inward 
principle ;  that  an  act,  in  itself  good,  becomes  even 
sinful  if  the  motive  be  sinful.  Nothing  could  more 
clearly  indicate  that  Luther  was  outgrowing  the 
discipline  and  tuition  of  that  church,  whose  reli- 
gion consisted  chiefly  in  outward  forms  and  cere- 
monies, and  whose  theology  was  as  void  of  vitality 
as  wTas  its  piety. 

1516. 


m 


Not  only  is  this  an  important  year  in  the  life 
of  Luther,  as  a  period  of  transition  from  a  condi- 
tion of  comparative  retirement  to  one  of  great 
publicity,  as  forming  the  boundary  line  between 
Luther  the  learned  and  somewhat  disputatious 
monk,  and  Luther  the  reformer;  but  here,  for  the 
first  time,  the  mist  of  obscurity  which  has  hitherto 
mantled  his  personal  history  is  cleared  away,  and, 
from  this  period  on,  all  the  principal  events  of  his 
life  are  so  fully  chronicled  that  we  can  follow  his 
course  with  comparative  ease.  Of  his  published 
letters,  only  seven  precede  this  date:  one  in  1507, 
inviting  his  friend  Brown  to  his  ordination  as 
priest;  one  in  1509,  to  the  same,  excusing  him- 
self for  having  come  away  from  Erfurt  without 
taking  leave  of  him;  one  in  1510,  to  Spalatin, 
expressing  a  favourable  opmion  of  Reuchlin,  and 
censuring  his  opponents;  two  in  1512,  the  former 

15 


f 


170  LIFE   OF    LUTHER.  [151G. 

being  an  invitation  to  the  convent  at  Erfurt  to  be 
present  at  his  promotion  to  the  rank  of  doctor  of 
divinity,  the  latter  being  his  receipt  for  fifty  florins 
to  defray  the  expenses  of  the  ceremony;  and  two 
in  1514,  the  one,  the  bold  letter  already  mentioned, 
relating  to  his  difficulties  with  Erfurt ;  the  other  a 
second  letter  to  Spalatin,  condemning  the  course 
of  Ortuin,  one  of  Reuchlin's  opponents  at  Cologne. 
In  this  last,  we  perceive  that  vein  of  drollery 
and  sarcasm  with  which  his  subsequent  writings 
abound.  He  speaks  of  that  "poetaster,"  as  he 
calls  him,  in  terms  of  derision  and  scorn,  and 
allows  himself  to  use  language  always  objection- 
able, but  less  noticed  then  than  at  the  present 
day.  After  applying  to  him  several  opprobrious 
epithets,  he  adds:  "I  think  that  he  himself,  in- 
structed by  our  Reuchlin,  did  feel  his  asinity,  so 
to  express  myself,  to  such  a  degree  that  he  medi- 
tated laying  aside  the  ass  and  putting  on  the 
majesty  of  the  lion,  but  unluckily,  undertaking  a 
metamorphosis  beyond  his  strength,  he  took  too 
short  a  leap,  and  fell  into  a  wolf  or  crocodile." 

Though  up  to  this  period  we  have  in  all  only 
seven  or  eight  of  his  letters  preserved,  in  the  sin- 
gle year  1516  we  have  twenty,  in  the  following 
year  twenty-three,  in  1518,  fifty-six,  and  so  on,  to 
the  amount,  of  five  large  octavo  volumes.  From 
these  letters  alone  a  tolerably  full  biography  of 
Luther  might  be  written. 

February  2,  151G,  he  writes  to  his  intimate 
friend,  John  Lange,  prior  of  the  cloister  at  Erfurt, 
a  letter  which  strikingly  illustrates  the  state  of 
his  mind  in  respect  to  Hie  Aristotelian  philosophv, 


A.K 


M.  32.]  IN   WITTENBERG.  171 

and  the  scholastic  theology  founded  upon  it ;  and 
also  the  relations  of  his  old  teachers,  Truttvetter, 
or  Jodocus  of  Eisenach,  as  he  generally  calls  him, 
and  Usingen,  both  to  scholasticism  and  to  himself. 
He  writes :  "  I  send  the  accompanying  letter,  reve- 
rend father,  to  the  excellent  Jodocus  of  Eisenach, 
full  of  positions  against  [the  Aristotelian]  logic, 
philosophy  and  theology,  that  is,  full  of  blasphe- 
mies and  maledictions  against  Aristotle,  Porphyry 
and  the  sententiarists,  the  pernicious  study  of  this 
our  age.  .  .  .  See  that  these  be  put  into  his  hands, 
and  take  pains  to  find  out  what  he  and  all  the  rest 
think  of  me  in  this  matter,  and  let  me  know.  I 
have  no  other  more  eager  desire  than  to  make 
known  to  many,  and,  if  I  have  time,  to  show  to 
all,  how  ignominiously  that  old  actor,  under  his 
Greek  mask,  playeth  and  maketh  pastime  with 
the  church.  .  .  .  My  greatest  sorrow  is,  that  1 
am  constrained  to  see  brethren  of  good  parts  and 
of  gifts  qualifying  them  for  study,  spend  their 
time  and  waste  their  lives  in  such  vain  pursuits, 
while  the  universities  cease  not  to  burn  and  to 
condemn  good  books,  and  then  make,  or  rather 
dream  out,  new  ones  in  their  room.  I  wish  Usin- 
gen as  wTell  as  Truttvetter  would  leave  off  these 
studies,  or  at  least  be  more  moderate  therein. 
My  shelves  are  stored  with  weapons  against  their 
writings,  which  I  perceive  to  be  utterly  useless ; 
and  all  others  would  see  the  same,  were  they  not 
bound  to  a  more  than  Pythagorean  silence." 

Thus  we  see  Luther  hating  Aristotle,  because 
the  scholastic  theologians  gerversely  put  him  in 
the  place  of  the  prophets  find  apostles;  entertain- 


172  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1516. 

ing  a  feeling  of  respect  for  his  two  principal 
university  teachers,  and  yet  doubtful  whether 
what  he  wrote  to  thern  would  not  rather  offend 
than  enlighten  them;  impatient  to  expose  the 
monstrous  abuse,  pitying  the  hapless  youth  who 
must  be  perplexed  with  these  tedious  studies 
only  to  be  misled;  indignant  at  those  birds  of 
night  at  Cologne,  who  scream  out,  "Heresy!"  at 
what  they  have  not  sense  enough  to  comprehend ; 
confident  that  he  possesses  the  means  of  exploding 
the  whole  system ;  but  sighing  over  the  timidity 
of  those  who  would  easily  be  convinced  but  for 
their  fear  of  giving  offence.  Nothing  but  time 
and  circumstances  were  wanting  to  call  him  out, 
even  at  this  early  period. 

But  there  was  another  element  of  character 
combined  with  this,  that  gave  depth  and  a  re- 
generating power  to  Luther's  influence.  In  a 
letter  dated  April,  1516,  we  learn  that  his  mind 
was,  in  reference  to  that  particular  feature,  under- 
going a  most  favourable  development. 

Our  meaning  will  be  apparent  by  the  language 
of  the  letter  itself.  After  a  few  words  relating 
to  a  certain  economical  transaction,  he  writes  to 
Spenlein,  a  monk  of  Memmingen,  a  little  south 
of  Ulm:  "But  I  desire  to  know  how  it  is  with 
your  soul ;  whether,  weary  of  your  own  righte- 
ousness, you  have  learned  to  refresh  yourself 
with,  and  put  your  trust  in,  the  righteousness  of 
Christ.  For  in  our  times  presuming  of  ourselves 
is  the  chief  temptation,  especially  in  them  that 
are  striving  with  all  their  might  to  be  righteous 
and  good.     Being  ignorant  of  the  righteousness 


M.  32.]  IN   WITTENBERG.  173 

of  God,  which  is  abundantly  and  freely  given  to 
us  in  Christ,  they  seek  continually  to  perform 
good  works  of  themselves  until  they  can  have 
confidence  to  stand  before  God  adorned  in  their 
own  good  works  and  merits,  which  is  impossible. 
When  you  were  with  us  [in  the  cloister  at  Er- 
furt ?]  you  were  of  this  opinion,  or  rather  in  this 
error,  and  so  was  I.  I  still  have  to  fight  against 
this  error  in  myself,  and  have  not  yet  altogether 
overcome  it.  Therefore,  my  dear  brother,  ac- 
quaint yourself  with  Christ  and  him  crucified; 
learn  to  praise  him;  despairing  of  yourself,  say 
to  him,  'Lord  Jesus,  thou  art  my  righteousness, 
and  I  am  thy  sin  :  thou  hast  taken  to  thyself 
what  is  mine,  and  given  me  what  is  thine ;  thou 
hast  assumed  what  thou  wast  not,  and  given  to 
me  what  I  was  not.'  Beware  of  aspiring  to  such 
purity  as  to  be  unwilling  to  appear,  and  also  to  be 
in  very  deed,  a  sinner.  For  Christ  chvelleth  only 
in  sinners.  For  this  cause  Christ  descended  from 
heaven,  where  he  dwelleth  in  the  righteous,  to  the 
end  that  he  might  dwell  also  in  sinners.  Meditate 
upon  this  love  of  his,  and  you  will  find  therein  his 
most  sweet  consolations.  For  if  by  our  toils  and 
conflicts  wo  could  obtain  peace  of  conscience,  why 
should  he  die  ?  Therefore  you  will  not  find 
peace  save  in  him,  by  utterly  despairing  of  your- 
self and  of  your  owyn  works.  Learn  then  of  him, 
as  he  received  you  and  made  your  sins  his  owm, 
so  to  make  his  righteousness  yours. 

"If  you  steadfastly  believe  this  as  you  ought, 
(and  cursed  is  he  who  believeth  it  not,)  then  re- 
ceive your  brethren,  who  have  been  refractory  and 

15* 


174  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1510. 

gone  astray,  and  patiently  carry  them  along  and 
make  their  sins  yours ;  and  if  you  have  any  thing 
good,  let  it  be  theirs,  as  the  apostle  saith, '  Receive 
one  another,  even  as  Christ  hath  received  you  to 
the  glory  of  God ;'  and  again,  '  Let  the  same  mind 
he  in  you  which  was  in  Christ  Jesus,  who,  when 
he  was  in  the  form  of  God,  emptied  himself,'  &c. 
So  you,  if  you  seem  to  yourself  to  be  better,  do 
not  look  upon  it  as  a  plunder,  as  if  it  were  yours 
alone;  but  empty  yourself,  and  forget  what  you 
are,  and  be  as  one  of  them,  and  bear  them  in  your 
arms.  His  is  an  unhappy  righteousness  which 
maketh  him  unwilling  to  support  others  who  ap- 
pear worse  in  comparison,  and  maketh  him  flee 
and  retreat  when  he  ought  to  be  present  and 
succour  them  by  his  patience  and  prayers  and 
example.  This  is  burying  the  Lord's  talent,  and 
not  giving  to  his  fellow-servants  what  is  their 
due.  If  then  you  will  be  a  lily  and  a  rose  of 
Christ,  know  that  you  must  be  among  thorns. 
Only  be  careful  that  by  impatience,  hasty  judg- 
ment, or  secret  pride,  you  do  not  yourself  become 
a  thorn.  The  kingdom  of  Christ  is  in  the  midst 
of  his  enemies,  as  the  Psalm  saith.  Why  then 
do  you  think  of  it  as  in  the  midst  of  his  friends  ? 
In  whatsoever  therefore  you  are  deficient,  seek  the 
supply,  prostrate  before  the  Lord  Jesus.  He  will 
teach  you  all  things.  Only  consider  what  he  hath 
done  for  you  and  for  all,  that  you  may  learn  what 
you  ought  to  do  for  others.  If  he  had  wished  to 
live  only  among  the  good  and  to  die  for  his  friends 
alone,  for  whom,  I  ask,  would  he  have  died,  or 
with  whom  would  he  ever  have  lived?     Thus  do, 


je  32.]  IN   WITTENBERG.  175 

my  brother,  and  pray  for  me,  and  the  Lord  be  with 

you." 

We  have  presented  the  whole  of  this  letter,  ex- 
cept the  introductory  paragraph,  in  order  that  the 
reader  may  see  into  the  heart  of  Luther  as  he  was 
at  this  period,  and  form  some  conception  of  the 
power  of  his  religious  influence,  as  exerted  upon 
numerous  brethren  by  a  mass  of  letters  of  similar 
import,  which  have  not  been  preserved.  Mathe- 
sius  informs  us  that  he  wrote  many  such  during 
the  first  four  years  of  his  doctorate. 

One  other  letter  of  similar  tendency,  and  written 
in  the  same  month,  is  still  extant.  A  brother 
Leiffer  in  Erfurt  "  was  agitated  by  the  tempests 
and  billows  of  temptation."  After  affirming, 
"from  his  own  experience,  as  well  as  that  of  his 
brother,  nay,  from  the  experience  of  all,  that  our 
worldly  wisdom  is  the  cause  of  all  our  disquiet," 
and  that  his  own  exceedingly  depraved  reason,  or 
"vicious  eye,"  as  he  terms  it,  had  vexed  him  with 
extreme  wretchedness,  and  continued  to  do  so  still, 
he  proceeds:  "The  cross  of  Christ  is  distributed 
throughout  all  the  world,  and  to  each  one  is  always 
given  his  portion.  Do  not  you,  therefore,  cast  it 
away,  but  rather  receive  it  as  a  most  sacred  relic, 
and  place  it  away,  not  in  a  gold  or  silver  casket, 
but  in  a  golden  heart,  that  is,  a  heart  imbued  with 
gentle  charity.  For  if  the  wood  of  the  cross  was 
consecrated  by  contact  with  the  flesh  and  blood 
of  Christ,  so  that  fragments  of  it  should  be  trea- 
sured up  as  the  choicest  relics,  how  much  more 
should  the  injuries,  persecutions,  passions  and 
hatred  of  men,  whether  of  the  righteous  or  of  the 


176  LIFE   OF  LUTHER.  [1510- 

wicked,  be  regarded  as  most  sacred  relics,  which, 
not  indeed  by  contact  with  Christ's  flesh,  but  by 
the  love  of  his  most  anguished  heart  and  of  his 
Divine  will,  have  been  embraced,  kissed  and 
blessed,  and  more  than  consecrated,  inasmuch  as 
cursing  is  turned  into  blessing,  injury  into  equity, 
suffering  into  glory,  and  the  cross  into  rejoicing. 
Farewell,  dear  father  and  brother,  and  pray  for 
me."  How  characteristic  !  Written  in  the  very 
midst  of  the  sumptuous  collection  of  sacred  relics 
in  the  Electoral  Church,  which  to  his  spiritual 
mind  served  no  other  purpose  than  to  furnish 
imagery  for  deeper  truths,  this  letter  leads  us 
back  to  Erfurt,  to  those  scenes  where  Luther  first 
found  the  true  cross  of  Christ,  and  then  along  the 
path  of  his  subsequent  experience,  where,  like 
Bunyan's  pilgrim,  he  is  seen,  as  a  sort  of  religious 
mirror,  reflecting  the  whole  interior  of  the  Chris- 
tian life. 

In  both  these  letters  we  see  the  intensity  and 
fervour  of  his  religious  feeling,  showing  a  depth 
and  maturity  of  character  as  great  as  in  those 
vigorous  assaults  made  by  him  upon  the  scholastic 
theology — spiritual  health  within,  and  a  bold  ac- 
tivity without. 

Not  far  from  the  date  of  the  foregoing  letters, 
Staupitz  was  sent  into  the  Netherlands  to  collect 
relics  for  the  Elector  Frederic.  What  strange  in- 
congruities meet  us  just  at  the  moment  that  the 
night  of  superstition  is  passing  away  !  In  conse- 
quence of  this  singular  embassy,  Luther  was  made 
vicar  of  the  order  in  Saxony  and  Thuringia,  in 
place  of  Staupitz,  for  about  a  year  and  a  half,  or 


JE.  32.]  IN    WITTENBERG.  177 

from  April,  1516,  to  about  November  of  15]  7. 
"This,"  as  Jiirgens  well  remarks,  "was  a  sign  of 
great  confidence  on  the  part  of  Staupitz, — a  sign 
of  Luther's  high  standing  already  in  the  order. 
Staupitz  could  not  have  committed  his  own  office 
to  so  young  a  man,  unless  the  intellectual  supe- 
riority of  the  latter  was  universally  acknow- 
ledged, or  at  least  felt.  Otherwise,  how  could 
Luther  venture  to  appear  as  overseer  of  the  very 
cloister  where  not  many  years  before  he  had  been 
misused  in  his  novitiate,  where  his  singularities 
had  been  witnessed,  but  hardly  approved,  and 
where  until  very  recently  an  unfriendly  feeling 
had  been  cherished  against  him  in  respect  to  his 
degree,  or  whatever  else  was  the  cause  of  the 
misunderstanding  ?  There  were  distinguished  and 
celebrated  men  there,  such  as  Lange,  Link  and 
Usingen." 

It  is  remarkable  that,  in  his  accepting  this 
office,  we  find  no  traces  of  that  shrinking  timidity 
which  he  manifested  in  1509,  when  he  was  ap- 
pointed preacher,  and  in  1512,  when  he  was  made 
doctor  of  divinity.  In  a  religious  point  of  view, 
he  had  passed  to  a  joyful  and  confident  state  of 
mind.  In  his  theology,  he  had  come  to  feel 
strong  in  the  Bible,  and  anxious  to  open  to  others, 
as  widely  as  possible,  those  living  fountains  of 
truth  by  which  he  himself  had  been  so  refreshed. 
In  practical  life,  he  had,  as  lecturer  and  debater 
and  principal  professor,  acquired  meat  skill  and 
power,  and  seemed  to  feel  like  a  young  hero  pant- 
ing to  engage  in  some  worthy  enterprise.  He 
entered  upon  his  duties  with  eagerness,  and  with 


178  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1616. 

a  firm  hand.  To  the  decorous  but  unhesitating- 
tone  of  authority  which  he  assumed,  the  cloister  of 
Erfurt  never  uttered  a  murmur.  On  the  contrary, 
his  correspondence  with  Lange,  the  prior,  implies 
the  highest  degree  of  confidence  and  cordiality. 

Luther,  immediately  after  his  appointment,  set 
out  upon  a  journey  of  visitation,  and  passed  the 
last  of  April,  all  of  May  and  the  beginning  of 
June  in  going  from  cloister  to  cloister  in  his  pro- 
vince, regulating  discipline,  encouraging  education 
and  the  study  of  the  Bible  in  particular,  dismiss- 
ing unskilful  priors  and  appointing  others  in  their 
place.  The  faithful  discharge  of  the  duties  of 
this  office  made  him  intimately  acquainted  with 
the  moral  condition  of  the  monks  of  his  order, 
and  the  knowledge  thus  acquired  was  invaluable 
to  him  at  a  future  period. 

The  first  monastery  he  visited  was  that  of 
Grimma,  near  Leipsic,  and  still  nearer  the  nun- 
nery of  Nimptschen,  where  Catharine  von  Bora, 
Luther's  future  wife,  then  a  girl  of  sixteen,  was 
nun.  As  Staupitz  and  Link  accompanied  Luther 
to  this  place,  and  as  the  former  performed  in  this 
instance  the  duties  of  visitation,  it  would  seem 
that  Luther  was  here  practically  initiated  into  his 
new  calling.  While  they  were  thus  engaged  at 
Grimma,  Tetzel  made  his  appearance  in  the  adja- 
cent town  of  Wurtzen,  and  practised  his  arts  in 
selling  indulgences  so  shamelessly  as  to  arouse 
the  indignation  of  both  Luther  and  Staupitz. 
This  is  the  time  when  the  former  resolved  to  ex- 
pose the  traffic,  and  threatened  "  to  make  a  hole 
in  Tetzel's  drum." 


M.  82.]  IN   WITTENBERG.  179 

We  next  find  him  in  Dresden,  examining  the 
state  of  the  monastery  of  the  Augustinians  in 
that  place.  Here  he  writes  a  letter,  May  1,  to 
the  prior  in  Mainz,  requesting  him  to  send  back 
to  Dresden  a  runaway  monk,  "  For,"  says  he, 
"  that  lost  sheep  belongcth  to  me.  It  is  my  duty 
to  find  him  and  bring  him  back  from  his  wander- 
ings, if  so  it  please  the  Lord  Jesus.  I  entreat  you 
therefore,  reverend  father,  by  our  common  faith 
in  Christ,  and  by  our  profession,  to  send  him  unto 
me,  if  in  your  kindness  you  can,  either  at  Dres- 
den or  Wittenberg,  or  rather  persuade  him,  and 
affectionately  and  kindly  move  him  to  come  of 
his  own  accord.  I  will  meet  him  with  open  arms, 
if  he  will  but  return.  He  need  not  fear  that  he 
has  offended  me.  I  know  full  wTell  that  offences 
must  come ;  nor  is  it  strange  that  a  man  should 
fall.  It  is  rather  strange  that  he  should  rise 
again  and  stand.  Peter  fell,  that  he  might  know 
he  was  but  a  man.  At  the  present  day  also,  the 
cedars  of  Lebanon,  whose  summits  reach  the 
skies,  fall.  The  angels  fell  in  heaven,  and  Adam 
in  Paradise.  Is  it  then  strange  that  a  reed  should 
quiver  in  the  breeze,  and  the  smoking  lamp  be 
put  out  ?"  This  is  the  first  letter  in  which  he 
signs  his  name  as  "  Vicar  of  the  Augustinian 
Eremites  in  Misnia  and  Thuringia." 

His  next  letter,  (and  we  give  all  in  their  order 
which  are  written  in  1516,)  is  dated  May  29,  after 
he  had  nearly  finished  his  tour.  He  had  been  in 
Erfurf  and  was  then  in  Grotha,  which  he  was  un- 
willing to  leave  without  paying  his  respects  in 
some  way  to  Mutianus,  a  great  classical  and  belles- 


180  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [151G. 

lettres  scholar,  who,  as  long  ago  as  when  Luther 
was  a  student  at  Erfurt,  was  at  the  head  of  a  lite- 
rary club,  to  which  many  of  the  university  friends 
of  Luther  belonged.  Luther  addresses  him  thus : 
"  That  I  have  not  visited  you,  most  learned  and 
accomplished  Mutianus,  nor  invited  you  to  visit 
me,  is  owing  first  to  my  haste  and  the  stress  of 
my  business,  and,  secondly,  to  my  high  opinion 
and  true  veneration  of  you.  Our  friendship  is  of 
too  short  a  standing  to  justify  me  in  humbling 
your  excellence  so  far  as  to  request  you  to  visit 
me.  I  must  now  go  where  my  duty  calleth  me, 
but  not  without  first  saluting  you,  though,  from  a 
sense  of  my  ignorance  and  uncouth  style,  I  shrink 
from  it.  But  my  affection  for  you  overcometh  my 
modesty;  and  that  rustic  Corydon,  Martin,  barba- 
rous and  accustomed  only  to  cackle  among  the 
geese,  saluteth  you,  the  scholar,  the  man  of  the 
most  polished  erudition.  Yet  I  am  sure,  or  cer- 
tainly presume,  that  Mutianus  valueth  the  heart 
above  tongue  or  pen;  and  my  heart  is  sufficiently 
erudite,  for  it  is  sufficiently  devoted  to  you.  Fare- 
well, most  excellent  father  in  the  Lord  Jesus,  and 
be  not  forgetful  of  me."  Postscript.  "  One  thing 
I  wish  you  to  know :  father  John  Lange,  whom 
you  have  known  as  a  Greek  and  Latin  scholar, 
and  what  is  more,  as  a  man  of  a  pure  heart,  hath 
now  lately  been  made  prior  of  the  Erfurt  convent 
by  me.  Unto  man  commend  him  by  a  friendly 
word,  and  unto  God  by  your  prayers." 

The  same  day  he  wrote  another  letter  from 
Langensalza,  a  little  north  of  Gotha,  to  Lange 
himself,  instructing   him  how  to  proceed  in  his 


M.  32.]  IX  WITTEXBERG.  181 

official  station.  lie  says  at  the  close:  "I  have 
not  found  in  this  district  any  convents  in  so  good 
a  state  as  here  and  in  Gottern,"  [between  Langen- 
salza  and  Miihlhausen.]  "I  have  despatched  my 
business  here  in  one  hour,  and  think  I  shall  do 
the  same  there  in  two.  By  the  blessing  of  God,  I 
hope  to  proceed  toward  Nordhausen  to-morrow, 
trusting  that  in  these  two  places  God  will  work 
without  me  both  in  spiritual  and  temporal  things, 
though  the  devil  is  unwilling." 

On  the  8th  of  June,  he  is  again  in  Wittenberg, 
and  writes  to  Spalatin,  Frederic's  secretary,  dis- 
suading the  elector  from  his  purpose  of  making 
Staupitz  bishop.  "These  are  not  times  to  be 
happy,  or  even  comfortable  in  ruling  as  bishop, 
i.  e.  in  being  given  up  to  carousals,  sodomy  and 
Roman  corruption."  Though  he  is  "free  from  such 
vices,"  he  ought  not  to  be  involved  "in  the  whirl- 
pools and  violent  tempests  of  the  bishops'  courts." 

On  the  22d,  he  writes  to  Dressel,  prior  of  the 
monastery  at  Neustadt,  a  little  south  of  Jena,  who 
had  some  difficulty  with  the  monks,  endeavouring 
to  comfort  him  in  his  afflictions.  lie  was  obliged 
afterward  to  depose  him,  for  want  of  skill  rather 
than  of  good  intention,  and  to  permit  the  convent 
to  choose  another.  In  the  former  letter,  he  says : 
"You  seek  and  strive  for  peace,  but  in  a  wrong 
way.  You  seek  it  as  the  world  giveth  it,  not  as 
Christ  giveth.  .  .  .  You  cry,  with  Israel,  'Peace, 
peace,'  and  yet  there  is  no  peace.  Cry  rather  with 
Christ,  '  The  cross,  the  cross,'  and  yet  there  is  no 
cross.  The  cross  ceaseth  to  be  such  as  soon  as 
you  can  say,  '  Blessed  cross;  among  all  the  kinds 

1G 


182  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1516. 

of  wood,  there  is  nothing  like  unto  it.'  Behold, 
then,  how  kindly  the  Lord  inviteth  you  unto  true 
peace,  when  he  besetteth  you  all  around  with  such 
crosses."  In  the  latter,  he  addresses  Dressel  and 
the  chapter  thus :  "  I  hear  with  grief,  as  I  well 
deserve,  excellent  fathers  and  brethren,  that  you 
are  living  void  of  peace  and  unity,  and  though 
you  are  in  one  house,  you  are  not  of  one  way; 
neither  are  you,  according  to  the  rule,  of  one  heart 
and  one  mind.  This  miserable  and  unprofitable 
kind  of  life  cometh  either  from  your  lack  of  hu- 
mility— for  where  humility  is  there  is  peace — or 
from  my  negligence,  or  at  least  from  your  fault  and 
mine,  in  not  beseeching  the  Lord  that  made  us, 
and  praying  that  he  would  direct  our  way  in  his 
sight,  and  lead  us  in  his  righteousness.  He  erreth, 
he  erreth,  he  erreth,  who  presumeth  to  direct  him- 
•self,  not  to  say  others,  by  his  own  counsel."  He 
then  lays  the  blame  chiefly  on  the  brethren  for 
not  submitting  to  the  prior,  but,  with  kind  words, 
requires  the  prior  to  resign,  at  the  same  time  pro- 
nouncing him  a  well-meaning,  upright  man.  But 
there  must  be  peace  and  concord.  The  brethren 
are  to  choose  their  own  prior,  and  then  pray  and 
strive  for  union. 

The  remaining  letters  of  this  year  are  those 
written  to  his  particular  friends  Lange  and  Spala- 
tin.  They  give  an  interesting  view  of  his  occu- 
pations and  cares.  To  the  former,  under  date  of 
June  30,  he  says:  "I  wrote  to  you  from  Sanger- 
hausen,  [north  of  Erfurt  and  near  Eisleben,]  most 
excellent  father,  that  if  you  had  any  insubordinate 
brother,  you  might  send  him  thither  by  way  of  cor- 


M.  32.]  IN   WITTENBERG.  183 

rection.  I  now  write  unto  you  again  from  Witten- 
berg, not  only  desiring  but  beseeching  you  to 
send  George  of  Schleusingen  or  William  Fischer 
to  the  brethren  at  Eislcben,  or  at  least  allow  them 
to  go  till  the  reverend  father  [Staupitz]  shall 
return.  Rigorous  necessity  requireth  it.  Say  to 
that  brother,  and  to  all,  that  this  is  done  by  me 
not  from  violence,  but  because  we  are  all  bound, 
and  I  especially,  to  maintain  the  honour  of  the 
vicariate  everywhere,  and  particularly  that  of  our 
reverend  vicar.  These  same  fathers  [at  Eisleben] 
sent  me  a  brother  who  came  near  introducing  the 
plague  into  that  young  conventual  house.  Brother 
Caspar,  a  senior  there,  lieth  dead.  Reader  Antony 
is  dead.  Father  Bacalaureus  is  in  Leipsic.  Twc 
others  are  abroad,  as  you  know,  begging  money 
for  the  building.  The  brother  before  mentioned 
is  now  here  with  me.  You  yourself  see  how  we 
need  succour.  Neither  you  nor  others  need  be 
afraid,  the  plague  doth  not  prevail  there.  Fare- 
well, and  say  farewTell  to  the  fathers,  masters, 
the- reader  and  others,  not  in  my  name,  but  the 
Lord's."  The  reader  here  mentioned  is  his  friend 
George  LeifFer,  to  wdiom  the  letter  of  April  15th 
was  addressed. 

The  next  letter,  written  August  30th,  to 
Lange,  is  accompanied  with  Luther's  oration  de- 
livered to  the  convent  at  Gottern,  wishing  him 
to  show  it  or  send  it  to  Braun  of  Eisenach, 
Wigand  of  Walthershausen,  and  reader  George 
Leiiler,  or  any  wrho  should  wish  to  see  it.  The 
remainder  of  the  letter  relates  to  difficulties  ex- 
perienced in  maintaining  study  in  the   cloisters 


184  LIFE   OF    LUTHER.  [1516. 

"You  need  not  send  brethren  who  are  students 
to  me,  first,  for  that  we  have  too  many  [in  the 
cloister]  already;  and  secondly,  because  the  plague 
hath  broken  out  vehemently  here."  October  5th, 
he  writes  again  to  the  same:  "Just  as  if  we  [at 
Wittenberg]  were  in  such  abundance  here,  that 
those  which  you,  [at  Erfurt,]  who  are  rich,  cannot 
maintain,  we  in  our  poverty  could.  We  shall 
have  [in  the  cloister]  thirty-six  here  this  winter, 
unless  the  plague  prevent,  and  forty,  if  all  whose 
names  are  entered  should  come.  You  seem  to 
have  drunken  in  the  Erfurt  spirit  of  distrust,  as 
though  God  could  not  feed  even  the  ungrateful, 
and  preserve  even  those  that  do  not  desire  it. 
Then  you  make  this  monastery  so  much  your 
own,  that  you  call  other  monks  strangers,  and 
ask  me  to  come  to  the  aid  of  my  mother,  [the 
Erfurt  monastery.]  Take  care  that  you  continue 
to  walk  according  to  your  Tauler,  and  remain  free 
[from  all  particular  interests,]  and  common  for  all 
things,  as  becometh  the  son  of  a  common  God  and 
of  a  common  church.  Brother  John  Metzel  I  will 
send  you  as  soon  as  I  learn  that  he  can  be  spared 
from  Eisleben. 

"  Touching  my  theses,  or  rather  Bartholomew 
Feldkirk's,  there  is  no  cause  why  your  Gabrielists 
[followers  of  Gabriel  Biel]  should  marvel,  albeit 
ours  here  continually  do  the  same.  The  theses 
were  not  written  by  me,  but  were  gotten  up  by 
Feldkirk,  because  of  the  cackling  of  my  enemies 
against  my  lectures.  This  he  did,  to  the  end  that 
these  things  might  be  publicly  debated,  under 
my  presiding,  in  order  to  stop  the  mouths  of  the 


-E.  32.]  IN   WITTENBERG.  185 

garrulous,  or  to  learn  the  opinions  of  others.*  .  .  . 
I  will  keep  a  few  days  the  brethren  whom  you 
sent  unto  me,  and  see  what  I  can  do,  or  how  it 
shall  turn  out  with  the  plague,  which  has  begun. 
I  should  be  sorry  to  send  them  back  again,  for 
they  are  apt  for  study.  And  yet  I  am  urged  by 
want;  but  the  Lord  liveth  and  reigneth."  The 
large  number  of  these  inmates  of  the  Augustinian 
cloisters  who  were  sent  to  Wittenberg  to  study  in 
the  university  and  live  in  the  monastery,  without 
expense,  will  account  for  the  fact  that  so  many  of 
the  students  who  took  their  degrees  in  theology  at 
Wittenberg  about  this  time,  and  of  those  monks 
who  first  embraced  the  doctrines  of  the  Refor- 
mation, were  Augustinians.  How  admirably  was 
Luther,  all  this  time,  sowing  the  seed  for  a  future 
harvest,  as  well  by  directing  the  studies  of  nearly 
all  the  promising  young  men  of  his  order,  as  by 
securing,  through  his  diligence  and  energy,  an 
entire  ascendency  in  the  monasteries  of  his  pro- 
vince ! 

During  the  month  of  August  he  made  several 
journeys  on  business  connected  with  the  duties 
of  his  office.  After  a  letter  on  matters  of  local 
interest,  written  from  Kemberg,  whither  the  pro- 
fessors and  students  often  fled  in  the  time  of  the 
plague,  we  find  another,  in  which  there  is  an 
amusing  account  of  Luther's  accumulated  labours. 
"I  have  need,  almost,"  he  writes  again  to  Lange, 

*  It  is  these  theses  on  the  freedom  of  the  will,  written  and  de- 
fended by  Feldkirk,  but  in  reality  emanating  from  Luther,  that  were 
the  occasion  of  the  sparring  between  Corlstadt  and  Eck,  which  ter- 
minated in  the  Leipsic  disputation. 

10* 


186  LIFE   OF  LUTHER.  [1516. 

"of  two  scribes  or  secretaries.  I  do  hardly  any 
thing,  through  the  whole  day,  but  write  letters.  I 
therefore  cannot  tell  whether  I  do  always  write 
the  same  things  or  no.  See  for  yourself.  I  am 
the  preacher  of  the  cloister;  I  am  reader  at  the 
table;  I  am  required  every  day  to  be  parish- 
preacher;  I  am  director  of  the  studies  of  the 
brethren ;  I  am  vicar,  that  is,  eleven  times  prior ; 
I  am  inspector  of  the  fish-ponds  in  Litzkau;  I  am 
advocate  for  the  Hertzebergers  in  Torgau;  I  am 
lecturer  on  Paul;  I  am  commentator  on  the  Psalms ; 
and,  as  I  have  said,  the  greater  part  of  my  time  is 
occupied  in  writing  letters.  I  seldom  have  time 
for  the  canonical  hours  and  for  the  mass,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  temptations  of  the  flesh,  the  world 
and  the  devil.  You  see  what  a  man  of  leisure  I 
am.  Concerning  brother  John  Metzel,  I  think 
my  opinion  and  reply  have  already  reached  you. 
Nevertheless,  I  will  see  what  I  can  do.  How  du 
you  suppose  I  can  find  a  place  for  all  your  Sar- 
danapaluses  and  sybarites  [easy  monks]  ?  If  you 
have  trained  them  up  wrong,  you  must  support 
them  after  thus  training  them.  I  have  useless 
brethren  enough  everywhere,  if  any  can  be  useless 
to  a  patient  mind.  I  am  satisfied  that  the  useless 
can  be  made  of  more  use  than  the  most  useful. 
Support  them,  therefore,  for  the  present.  In  re- 
spect of  the  brethren  you  sent  to  me,  I  think 
(but  I  am  not  sure)  I  lately  wrote  unto  3rou.  The 
convert,*1'  with  the  young  men,  I  sent  to  master 
Spangenberg,  as  they    desired,  to   the    end  that 


'■  One  who  becomes  monk  lute  in  life. 


M.  33.]  IN   WITTENBERG.  187 

they  might  escape  from  breathing  this  pestilential 
air.  Two  I  have  kept  here,  with  two  others  from 
Cologne,  in  whose  good  parts  I  felt  so  deep  a  con- 
cern that  I  chose  rather  to  keep  them,  at  no  little 
cost,  than  send  them  away.  There  are  now  twenty- 
two  priests  and  twrelve  youths,  forty-one  persons 
in  all,  who  live  upon  our  more  than  most  scanty 
stores.  But  the  Lord  will  provide.  You  say  you 
began  yesterday  [to  lecture]  upon  the  second  part 
of  Lombard's  Sentences.  To-morrowr,  I  shall  be- 
gin on  the  Epistle  to  the  Galatians.  Albeit,  I  fear 
the  plague  will  not  suffer  me  to  go  on.  It  taketh 
away  twro  or  three  each  several  day.  A  son  of 
our  neighbour,  Faber,  opposite,  who  was  well  yes- 
terday, is  carried  to  his  burial  to-da}^  Another 
son  lieth  infected.  What  shall  I  say?  It  is 
already  here,  and  hath  begun  to  rage  suddenly 
and  vehemently — especially  with  the  young.  You 
ask  me  and  Bartholomew  [Feldkirk]  to  flee 
with  you.  Whither  shall  I  flee?  I  hope  the 
world  will  not  fall  to  pieces,  if  brother  Martin  do 
fall.  The  brethren  I  shall  disperse  throughout 
all  the  country,  if  the  pestilence  should  prevail. 
But  I  am  placed  here,  and  my  duty  of  obedience 
will  not  allow  me  to  flee,  until  the  authority 
which  commanded  me  hither  shall  command  me 
away." 

Who  can  fail,  in  this  letter,  to  see  Luther  with 
almost  every  trait  of  his  character?  How  frank 
and  agreeable  his  manner  with  Lange,  and  how 
sportive  his  rebukes !  Yet  how  sensible  and 
earnest  in  respect  to  useless  monks;  and  how 
ready   to   turn   the   evil   to   a   spiritual  account ! 


188  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1516. 

How  strong  his  sympathy  with  young  students 
of  enterprise,  and  how  prompt  to  aid  them !  What 
fidelity  in  maintaining  his  post  in  time  of  danger, 
and  in  securing  all  but  himself!  Death  was  a 
trifle  to  him,  compared  with  unfaithfulness!  So 
we  see  him  here,  (just  one  year  and  five  days  be- 
fore the  ninety-five  theses  on  indulgences  were 
published,)  like  a  stream,  broad  and  deep,  and  ever 
growing  broader  and  deeper  as  it  advances.  No 
character  was  ever  more  steadily  progressive  than 
his,  from  1507  to  1517. 

The  only  remaining  letter  to  Lange,  during  the 
year  1516,  is  but  a  note,  in  which  he  commands 
that  the  three  obstreperous  monks,  of  wThom  re- 
peated complaints  had  been  made,  should  be  sent 
to  Sangerhausen ;  which  seems  to  have  been  fre- 
quently honoured  in  this  way.  The  letters  to 
Spalatin  speak  with  disapprobation  of  the  way  in 
which  Erasmus  explains  "the  righteousness  of 
the  law;"  returns  thanks  to  the  Elector  Frederic, 
"for  the  present  of  a  garment  of  too  fine  cloth 
for  a  monk's  habit,  did  it  not  come  from  a  prince ;" 
gives  an  account  of  the  success  of  Staupitz  in 
collecting  relics  along  the  cities  of  the  Rhine; 
and  explains  why  Luther  is  not  yet  prepared  to 
publish  his  notes  on  the  Psalms. 

We  have  now  reached  the  year  1517,  so  cele- 
brated as  the  one  from  which  the  great  Reforma- 
tion of  the  sixteenth  century  takes  its  date.  But 
there  are  yet  ten  months  to  the  31st  of  October, 
the  day  on  which  Luther  posted  up  his  theses 
against  Tetzel.  We  cannot  do  better  than  follow 
him  through  this  brief  period  in  his  correspond- 


/!'.  ::;J,.]  IX  WITTENBERG.  189 

ence.  January  27th,  he  writes  to  his  old  ac- 
quaintance and  colleague  Scheurl,  a  jurist,  then 
at  Niirenberg,  acknowledging  the  receipt  of  his 
letter,  which  is  "  to  me,"  he  says,  "  most  pleasant 
and  yet  most  sad.  But  why  do  you  wrinkle 
your  brow  ?  For  what  could  you  write  more 
pleasant  than  the  merited  eulogy  of  our  reverend 
father,  the  vicar,  or,  rather,  Christ  in  him  ?  No- 
thing more  grateful  to  me  could  be  said  than  that 
the  word  of  Christ  [through  Staupitz]  is  preached, 
heard,  received  ;  nay,  rather  lived  and  felt  and 
understood.  On  the  other  side,  you  could  write 
nothing  more  bitter  than  the  courting  of  my 
friendship  and  the  honouring  me  with  so  many 
vain  titles."  And  in  this  strain  of  unaffected 
modesty  the  whole  letter  is  written. 

In  a  letter  to  Lange,  dated  March  1,  after 
mentioning  that  he  sends  Didymus,  "  who  is 
still  ignorant  of  the  usages  of  the  order,"  to 
Erfurt,  and  that  he  is  about  to  publish  his 
translation  and  exposition  of  the  Penitential 
Psalms,  he  proceeds  to  say  :  "  I  am  reading  our 
Erasmus,  and  my  esteem  for  him  groweth  less 
every  day.  .  .  .  With  him,  what  is  of  man  pre- 
vailed over  what  is  of  God.  Though  I  am  loth 
to  judge  him,  I  must  admonish  you  not  to  read 
his  works;  or,  rather,  not  to  receive  all  he  saith 
without  examination.  These  are  dangerous  times, 
and  I  perceive  that  a  man  is  not  to  be  esteemed 
truly  wrise  because  he  understandeth  Greek  and 
Hebrew;  seeing  that  St.  Jerome,  with  his  five 
languages,  did  not  match  Augustine  with  one — 
though  to  Erasmus  it  may  seem  otherwise.  .  .  . 


190  LIFE    OF   LUTHER.  [1517; 

This  opinion  of  him  I  keep  hid,  lest  I  should 
strengthen  the  opposition  of  his  enemies,  [the 
monks  and  priests.]  Perhaps  the  Lord,  in  due 
time,  will  give  him  understanding.  Farewell. 
Salute  the  fathers,  the  masters  and  the  reader; 
and  inquire  whether  Dr.  Jodocus  [Truttvetter] 
will  reply  to  me." 

In  two  notes  to  Spalatin,  (April  3d  and  9th,) 
Luther  begs  a  stipend  for  a  poor  student;  and,  in 
reply  to  a  previous  request,  recommends  the  read- 
ing of  certain  works  of  Augustine,  Ambrose  and 
Cyprian.  On  the  6th  of  May,  he  writes  again  to 
Scheurl,  as  follows :  "  First,  I  thank  you,  most 
excellent  man,  for  the  present  of  the  treatises  of 
Staupitz,  but  lament  that  my  trifles  should  be 
spread  among  you  by  the  reverend  father.  They 
were  not  written  for  your  delicate  and  polite 
Niirembergers,  but  for  the  rude  Saxons.  .  .  . 
Upon  your  requesting  me  to  write  familiarly  to 
Eck,  I  wrote  as  carefully  as  I  could.  .  .  .  The 
propositions  hereunto  joined,  I  send  to  you,  and" 
through  you  to  master  Wenceslaus  [Link,]  and  to 
any  others  who  are  entertained  with  such  things. 
They  are  not  the  paradoxes  of  Cicero,  [who 
wrote  a  book  under  this  title,]  but  of  our  Carl- 
stadt,  or  rather  of  St.  Augustine.  These  para- 
doxes will  expose  the  carelessness  or  ignorance 
of  all  those  that  looked  upon  them  as  more  paradox 
than  orthodox."* 

The  next  succeeding  letter,  giving  a  provost 

*  These  propositions,  in  connection  with  those  of  Feldkirk,  men- 
tioned above,  led  to  the  disputation  which,  in  the  following  year, 
ensued  at  Leipsic  between  Eck  and  the  'Wittenberg  theologians. 


m.  33.]  IN   WITTENBERG.  191 

instructions  how  to  treat  a  fallen  monk,  may  be 
passed  over.  May  15,  Luther  sends  a  few  lines 
to  Lange,  in  which  he  says,  "  The  reverend  vicar 
writeth  that  he  shall  soon  return  to  us.  Our  theo- 
logy and  St.  Augustine  go  on  prosperously  by 
God's  help,  and  reign  in  our  university.  Aristotle 
is  sinking  by  little  and  little,  and  verging  toward 
a  fall  from  which  he  will  never  more  rise.  The 
scholastic  lectures  have  wonderfully  lost  their 
savour;  and  no  one  can  expect  to  have  hearers, 
unless  he  consent  to  lecture  on  the  Bible,  or  on 
St.  Augustine,  or  some  writer  which  has  church 
authority."  Thus  completely  had  Luther  revolu- 
tionized the  university,  and  given  a  new  direction 
to  its  studies. 

Omitting  two  unimportant  letters  to  Lange,  we 
come  to  the  one  bearing  date  September  4,  in 
wdiich  he  says,  "  I  send  you  by  master  Otto,  my 
propositions  [against  the  scholastic  theology,] 
and  my  exposition  of  the  ten  commandments.  .  .  . 
I  wait  with  much,  with  very  great,  with  stupen- 
dous anxiety,  to  learn  what  you  think  of  these 
paradoxes  of  mine.  I  suppose  that  to  your  theo- 
logians these  paradoxes  will  appear  heterodox ; 
though  to  us  they  cannot  be  otherwise  than  ortho- 
dox. Let  me  know  as  quick  as  you  can ;  and 
say,  in  my  name,  to  my  masters  and  reverend 
fathers  of  the  theological  faculty  and  others,  that 
I  am  fully  prepared  to  come  and  discuss  these 
subjects  with  them,  either  in  the  university  or 
in  the  monastery.  Let  them  not  suppose  that  I 
wish  to  whisper  these  things  in  a  corner,  if  our 
university  is  still  so  insignificant  as  to  seem  to  be 


192  LIFE    OF    LUTHER.  [1517. 

a  corner."     How  evidently  are  things  tending  to 
a  crisis  ! 

On  the  11th  of  the  same  month,  he  wrote  a  let- 
ter to  Scheurl,  the  last  from  which  we  shall  quote, 
the  three  which  remain  being  but  casual  notes. 
It  well  illustrates  what  is  indeed  everywhere  ob- 
vious, how  perfectly  Luther  adapted  himself  in 
tone  and  manner  to  the  various  characters  of  his 
correspondents.  He  writes  thus  :  "  Although, 
my  dearest  Christojmer,  I  have  no  occasion  to 
write  to  you  sufficient  to  justify  me  in  writing  to 
such  a  man,  yet  this  is  a  sufficient  one  for  me, 
namely,  the  desire  to  write  to  a  friend,  (setting 
aside  all  the  titles  and  dignities  with  which  you 
are  adorned,)  to  a  friend  who  is  pure  and  most 
upright  and  urbane,  and,  what  is  most  to  the 
point,  lately  known  and  acquired.  If  silence  is 
ever  to  be  esteemed  a  fault,  the  silence  of  friend 
toward  friend  is  particularly  so,  since  playful- 
ness and  trifles,  not  less  than  weighty  matters 
strengthen,  not  to  say  perfect,  friendship.  St. 
Jerome  exacted  this  of  his  friend,  that  he  should 
write  and  inform  him  that  he  had  nothing  to  write. 
Thus  I  determined  to  write  trifles  rather  than  to 
be  silent  toward  a  friend.  But  what  will  that 
brother  Martin,  falsely  called  the  theologian,  ever 
write  besides  trifles  ? — who,  amid  the  creaking 
and  pell-mell  of  syllogisms,  hath  made  no  profi- 
ciency in  polite  literature  ;  or,  if  he  ever  had 
any  taste  of  learning  and  eloquence,  it  hath  been 
kept  back  in  a  state  of  stammering  infancy  by 
long  practice  and  use  in  that  other  style  of 
writing.     But  my  preface   is    long  enough,  and 


JE.  33.] 


IN   WITTENBERG. 


m 


too  long,  if  I  am  not  to  write  a  volume  instead 
of  a  letter,  that  is,  doubly  to  unbend  in  trifles  and 
nonsense,  when  to  do  it  once  is  more  than  enough 
for  a  theologian.  The  aim  of  my  letter  is  to  let 
you  know  how  high  an  opinion  I  have  formed  of 

you  and  of  your  fidelity But  it  cometh  to 

mind  that  you  sent,  by  Ulrich  Pindar,  the  small 
treatises  of  our  reverend  father  the  vicar,  about 
twTo  florins'  worth,  a  part  wThereof  I  have  sold, 
and  a  part  given  awray  to  good  friends  of  the  re- 
verend father.  The  money  received  I  have  given 
to  the  poor,  as  }rou  required,  that  is,  to  myself 
and  the  brethren,  for  I  could  find  no  one  poorer 
than  myself.  ...  I  send  you  my  propositions,  or 
paradoxes,  or  heterodoxies,  as  many  regard  them. 
You  can  show  them  to  our  learned  and  ingenious 
Eck,  that  I  may  know  what  he  thinketh  of  them." 
We  have  now  concluded  what  has  generally 
been  treated  as  an  almost  unknown  period  of 
Luther's  life,  and  what  most  biographers  have  de- 
spatched in  a  few  pages.  Henceforth,  the  career 
of  the  great  Reformer  is  of  the  most  public  cha- 
racter, attracting  the  attention  of  the  religious 
world  more  than  that  of  any  other  individual  in 
Christendom. 


104 


LIFE   OF   LUTHER. 


[151/ 


PAET  II. 

FROM  THE  PUBLISHING  OF  THE  THESES  IN  1517,  TO   THE 
DEATH  OF  LUTHER  IN  1546. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  OPENING  OP  THE  REFORMATION  IN  1517,  TILL  THE  TIME 
OF  THE  LEIPSIC  DISPUTATION  IN  1518. 

Section  I. — Inthdgcnces. 

HOUGH  much  yet 

;  remained  for  Luther 

P'-jgat  to  learn,  and  many 

and   great    changes 

in  his  opinions  were 

3  yet  to  take  place, 
we  may  consider  the 
ground-work  of  his 
^^SPl''>--<  IBiJi character  as  harms; 
^^SSWI^^pP^Sf  f  I  jl^been  already  firmly 
"''-"^^^g^^^^^".,;, ^ ^fi1  ';l'('-  tn  tracing  his 
internal  history,  and  searching  out  all  the  influ- 
ences which  the  social  and  religious  institutions 
of  his  times  exerted  upon  him  in  the  formation 
of  his  character,  we  have  incidentally  brought 
before  us  many  scenes  which  strikingly  illustrate 
the  fallen  and  corrupt  state  of  the  church.  To 
this,  in  its  contrariety  to  the  religious  character 
and  aspirations  of  Luther,  as  represented  in  the 


M.  33.]  INDULGENCES.  195 

foregoing  statements,  it  is  now  necessary  to  direct 
particular  attention.  The  reformer  stands  before 
us  in  all  his  leading  peculiarities.  It  would  be 
well  as  distinctly  to  see  the  church  in  all  those 
deformities  which  called  so  loudly  for  a  reforma- 
tion. The  limits  of  this  work,  however,  make  it 
necessary  to  confine  our  attention  to  that  class 
of  abuses  which  the  j^eceding  account  has  not 
exhibited, — the  abuses  practised  under  the  name 

Of  INDULGENCES. 

The  tendency  of  the  Catholic  church  to  de- 
grade religion  from  its  high  spiritual  character 
to  a  mere  round  of  outward  forms  and  ceremo- 
nies, reached  its  height  in  the  practical  workings 
of  the  system  of  confessions,  penances  and  indul- 
gences. As  the  most  marked  peculiarities  of  Lu- 
ther's reform  consisted  in  making  every  thing  in 
religion  depend  on  Christ,  rather  than  on  human 
mediators,  whether  on  earth  or  in  heaven;  and 
our  connection  with  Christ  to  depend  on  the 
spiritual  affections  of  each  individual's  heart, 
rather  than  on  outward  rites  and  ecclesiastical 
relations,  it  was  perfectly  natural  that  a  colli- 
sion should  take  place  just  where  it  did,  namely, 
at  those  points  of  the  two  opposite  systems  which 
related  to  the  removal  of  sin.  In  the  one  system, 
the  agent  was  the  church;  in  the  other,  it  was 
Christ.  In  the  one,  the  sinner  was  to  be  re- 
formed by  penances,  from  which  he  might  pur- 
chase release;  in  the  other,  he  was  to  exercise 
godly  sorrow  for  sin  and  t;iitli  in  Christ.  The 
one  was  external  and  sacramental j  the  other  was 
internal  and  spiritual. 


19G  LIFE   OF  LUTHER.  [1517. 

How  could  such  a  perversion  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament doctrine  of  repentance  and  remission  of 
sin  ever  make  its  way  into  a  nominally  Chris- 
tian community?  To  this  inquiry  there  is  a  de- 
cisive historical  reply;  but  the  process  is  long, 
and  the  answer  complicated.  Like  the  forma- 
tion of  a  coral  island,  the  perversion  was  one  of 
gradual  accumulation.  It  had  small  beginnings, 
and  went  on  for  fifteen  centuries,  keeping  even 
pace  with  the  intellectual  and  moral  character 
of  the  age. 

First,  outward  mortifications  were  injudiciously, 
but  with  good  intentions,  imposed  by  the  church 
upon  members  under  ecclesiastical  censure,  as 
signs  of  repentance.  Next,  the  priest  enjoined 
similar  things,  privately,  upon  those  members 
who,  in  consequence  of  certain  sins,  were  sup- 
posed to  be  unprepared  for  the  communion.  Then 
the  priest,  who  had  already  assumed  a  false  posi- 
tion in  the  church,  as  mediator  between  God  and 
his  people,  became  lord  of  the  individual  con- 
science, examined  every  one  before  the  commu- 
nion, decided,  as  an  infallible  judge,  upon  the 
exact  amount  of  each  one's  sin,  and  affixed  a 
corresponding  penance.  Repentance  itself,  in- 
stead of  being  regarded  as  a  duty  always  to  be 
performed,  was  made  a  part  of  an  ordinance  of 
only  periodical  recurrence.  At  those  stated  times, 
the  individual  was  to  feel  contrition,  to  confess  to 
the  priest,  and  to  make  satisfaction  by  submitting 
to  the  penances  imposed.  The  first  of  these  three 
parts  of  the  ordinance,  namely,  contrition,  was 
lightly  passed  over.     The  second,  the  confession, 


M.  33.]  INDULGENCES.  197 

was  accepted  on  condition  of  its  being  full  and 
complete.  The  third,  satisfaction,  was  to  be  at- 
tended to  afterward ;  and  with  reference  to  this, 
too,  absolution  was  conditionally  pronounced  by 
the  priest,  and  the  penitent  was  then  admitted 
to  the  communion.  In  theory,  those  three  suc- 
cessive acts  must  be  faithfully  performed  by  the 
penitent,  or  the  absolution  was  of  no  efficacy. 
But  how  was  one  to  know  that  his  penitence  was 
sufficient?  How  would  he  be  sure  that  no  indi- 
vidual sin  was  omitted  in  the  confession?  Why 
should  absolution  be  pronounced  before  the  con- 
ditions were  all  fulfilled,  before  satisfaction  was 
known  to  be  made  ? 

These  were  the  questions  which  tortured  the 
mind  of  Luther  when  he  was  a  conscientious 
monk.  The  theological  objections  to  the  whole 
system  are,  that  the  third  part  is  without  foun- 
dation, a  mere  human  invention ;  that  the  second 
is  in  no  sense  necessary,  and  arose  from  a  false 
interpretation  of  two  or  three  passages  of  Scrip- 
fcure ;  is  founded  on  an  absurd  view  of  the  nature 
of  sin,  as  a  measurable  quantity,  and  is,  more- 
over, utterly  impracticable,  as  no  mortal  has  the 
means  of  searching  the  heart  and  ascertaining 
I  he  precise  amount  of  a  man's  sins.  The  first 
part  is  the  only  one  which  has  any  value  or  au- 
thority, and  this  is  perverted  by  being  so  far 
limited  to  a  particular  lime  and  place.  But  the 
worst  of  all  is,  that  the  practice  fell  far  short  of 
the  theory,  miserable  as  thai  was,  and  contrition, 
the  only  shadow  of  a  virtue  that  remained,  was 
just  the  part  which  the  poor  ignorant  people  least 


198  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1517. 

regarded.  Luther  attacked  the  practice;  his  op- 
ponents defended  the  thewy,  and  there  the  mat- 
ter stands  to  this  day. 

The  theory  of  the  treasure  of  the  church,  con- 
sisting of  the  superabundant  merits  of  Christ  and 
of  his  folloAvers,  especially  the  martyrs,  on  which 
the  Bishop  of  Rome  could  make  drafts  at  plea- 
sure, was  a  mere  scholastic  invention,  made  at  a 
late  period,  for  the  purpose  of  propping  up  a 
system  which  had  long  existed  in  practice.  On 
this  there  was  no  agreement  among  the  scho- 
lastic theologians ;  Alexander  of  Hales  maintain- 
ing one  view,  Albert  the  Great  another,  and  Tho- 
mas Aquinas  a  third.  Luther  did  not  fail  to  take 
advantage  of  this  circumstance,  and  triumphantly 
maintained,  that  in  attacking  these  modern  indi- 
vidual opinions,  he  by  no  means  attacked  the 
doctrines  of  the  ancient  universal  church. 

Indulgences  relate  only  to  the  third  part  of  the 
sacrament  of  penitence,  and  consist  in  substitut- 
ing, in  the  place  of  satisfaction,  or  the  endurance 
of  the  penance  imposed  by  the  priest,  pilgrimages 
to  sacred  places,  crusades  against  the  infidels,  or 
pecuniary  contributions  for  certain  religious  pur- 
poses. The  last  were,  in  theory,  a  substitute  for 
the  others,  or  for  ecclesiastical  penalties ;  but,  in 
practice,  a  tax  for  sins.  Indeed,  it  is  said,  that 
the  modern  system  of  taxation  is  borrowed  from 
the  church  practice. 

Plenary  indulgence  could  proceed  only  from  the 
pope,  and  was  granted  to  those  who  went  on  a  pil- 
grimage to  the  holy  sepulchre  at  Jerusalem.  The 
indulgences   given   by  archbishops   and   bishops 


M.  33.]  INDULGENCES.  199 

were  restricted  to  their  own  dioceses,  and  could 
not  extend  beyond  forty  days.  When  the  cru- 
sades had  lost  their  novelty,  pilgrimages  to  Rome 
were  accepted  as  a  substitute.  There,  at  certain 
sacred  places,  were  stations  for  prayer,  Avhich  were 
resorted  to  by  pilgrims.  Most  of  all  were  indul- 
gences given  at  St.  Peter's,  on  Christmas  eve. 

As  Boniface  VIII.  happened  to  be  elected 
on  such  an  occasion,  he  appointed  a  jubilee  in 
1300,  after  the  manner  of  the  old  Roman  secular 
games,  and  promised  plenary  indulgence  to  all 
who  should  daily  visit  St.  Peter's  and  St.  Paul's 
for  thirty  successive  days.  Strangers  who  came 
to  Rome  as  pilgrims  were  required  to  spend  but 
half  that  length  of  time  in  visiting  those  places. 
The  income  of  that  single  jubilee  has  been  esti- 
mated at  fifteen  millions  of  florins.  Hence,  Lu- 
ther said,  it  was  "  truly  a  golden  year."  Because 
men  could  not  live  long  enough  to  see  the  close 
of  another  century,  Clement  VI.  appointed  an- 
other jubilee,  to  take  place  at  the  end  of  fifty 
years,  and  added  the  Lateran  church  as  a  third 
station  or  place  of  sacred  resort.  Even  this  period, 
one  has  observed,  seemed  an  eternity  to  Urban  V  1. 
He,  therefore,  caused  the  next  to  be  held  after 
thirty-three  years,  the  period  of  the  Saviour's 
life,  and  appointed  St.  Mary  Maggiore  as  a  fourth 
place  of  pilgrimage.  These  four  churches  had 
each  a  golden  door,  opened  only  on  the  year  of 
jubilee.  The  money,  which  the  pilgrims  must 
not  forget,  was  received  by  priests  at  these  four 
churches,  and  afterward  at  three  others  also. 
Just  before  the  year  of  jubilee,  preachers  of  ju- 


200  LIFE  OF  LUTHER,  [1517. 

bilee  and  of  indulgence  were  sent  into  various 
countries,  calling  the  attention  of  the  people  to 
the  approaching  year  of  grace.  In  1400,  the 
King  of  France  prohibited  his  subjects  from  visit- 
ing Rome  at  the  jubilee.  In  1450,  the  Duke  of 
Bavaria  did  the  same,  the  council  of  Basle  hav- 
ing passed  a  decree  against  the  practice.  This 
last  year  of  jubilee  seems  not  to  have  been  so 
profitable  to  the  successor  of  St.  Peter  as  the 
preceding  had  been,  for  after  it  had  passed,  he 
sent  a  legate,  Nicholas  of  Cusa,  into  all  the  dio- 
ceses of  Germany,  to  receive  the  change  from 
those  who  had  not  found  it  convenient  to  visit 
Borne ! 

But  it  was  found  that  money  for  building  and 
repairing  churches  and  bridges  could  be  most  con- 
veniently raised  by  selling  indulgences.  Thomas 
Aquinas  had  taught  that  indulgences  could  be 
given  in  consideration  of  any  act  performed  for 
the  glory  of  God  and  the  good  of  the  church, 
"such  as  building  of  churches  and  bridges,  per- 
forming pilgrimages  and  giving  alms."  In  1319, 
John  XXII.  granted  forty  days'  indulgence  to 
those  who  should  aid  in  building  a  bridge  across 
the  Elbe  at  Dresden.  In  1484,  the  papal  legate 
promised  the  same  to  all  who  should  contribute 
toward  rebuilding  a  church  destroyed  by  fire  at 
Freiberg,  in  Saxony,  and  a  hundred  days  to 
those  who  should  do  so  for  another  church  in 
the  same  city.  In  1491,  Innocent  VIII.  granted 
to  the  inhabitants  of  Saxony  a  dispensation 
from  the  quarterly  fasts  for  a  period  of  twenty 
years,  on  condition  that  each  person  would  pay 


M.  33.]  INDULGENCES.  201 

the  twentieth  part  of  a  Romish  florin  annually 
toward  building  a  bridge  and  chapel  at  Torgau, 
and  the  collegiate  church  at  Freiberg.  One-fourth, 
however,  of  the  whole  sum  was  to  go  to  Rome, 
for  building  St.  Peter's.  This  ordinance  was  re- 
sisted by  the  faculty  of  law  in  Leipsic,  and  the 
Bishop  of  Meissen  refused  to  publish  the  bull  in 
his  see. 

In  1496,  Alexander  VI.  endeavoured  to  allay 
the  opposition,  by  promising  that  when  the  twenty 
years  were  expired,  this  kind  of  indulgences  should 
not  be  repeated  in  Saxony.  But  his  successor, 
Julius  II.,  paid  no  regard  to  that  promise,  for  in 
1509,  the  year  before  Luther  went  to  Rome,  he 
revived  the  indulgences  for  twenty  years  there- 
after. In  1512,  the  year  of  Luther's  doctorate, 
when  he  took  the  oath  by  which  he  felt  himself 
authorized  to  oppose  Tetzel's  doctrines,  Julius 
enlarged  and  extended  the  system  of  indulgences 
in  an  unheard-of  manner,  in  order  to  prosecute 
the  enterprise  in  which  he  had  been  engaged  six 
years,  of  erecting  the  magnificent  structure  of 
St.  Peter's.  Leo  X.  followed  in  his  steps,  and  in 
1514,  1515,  and,  most  of  all,  in  1516,  sent  his 
agents  into  Germany,  to  sell  indulgences  for  this 
purpose. 

At  this  point,  an  extraordinary  character  pre- 
sents himself,  to  whom  we  have  before  alluded, 
and  whose  name  is,  for  all  time,  so  fatally  con- 
nected with  Luther's  that  it  cannot  be  passed 
over  in  silence.  It  is  Tetzel,  the  notorious 
preacher  and  vender  of  indulgences.  Born  in 
Leipsic,  not  far  from   1460,   he   studied   in   the 


202  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1517. 

gymnasium  of  Iris  native  city,  and  then  entered 
the  university  in  1482,  one  year  before  Luther 
was  born.  After  a  protracted  course  of  study, 
particularly  under  the  celebrated  Professor  Wim- 
pina,  he  took  his  degree  in  1487,  and  ranked  as 
the  sixth  student  in  a  class  of  fifty-five.  As  he 
excelled  in  oratory,  his  friends  were  surprised  at 
his  entering,  two  years  afterward,  the  Dominican 
monastery,  then  called  the  Paulinum,  and  now 
known  as  a  university  building  under  that  name. 
He  was  soon  made  priest,  and  was  sent  to  Zwickau, 
where,  by  his  ready  and  showy  eloquence,  he  ac- 
quired considerable  popularity  as  a  preacher.  But 
here,  also,  he  furnished  the  first  proof  of  his  worth- 
less character. 

On  a  certain  day,  he  proposed  to  be  the  sexton's 
guest,  who  excused  himself,  saying,  he  was  too 
poor  to  furnish  suitable  entertainment  for  so  dis- 
tinguished a  man.  "No  matter,"  was  the  ready 
reply,  "we  will  easily  provide  ourselves  with  the 
money.  Look  at  the  calendar,  and  see  what 
saint's-day  it  is  to-morrow." 

It  happened  to  be  the  day  of  Juvenal,  and  the 
sexton  regretted  that  the  saint  was  so  little  known. 
"  We  will  make  him  known,"  said  Tetzel.  "  To- 
morrow, ring  the  church-bell,  as  at  all  high  festi- 
vals, and  we  will  hold  high  mass."  His  orders 
were  obeyed,  and  the  mass  was  accordingly  held. 

When  the  ceremony  was  ended,  Tetzel  ascended 
the  pulpit,  and  said,  "  Dear  people,  I  have  some- 
thing to  say  unto  you.  If  I  should  withhold  it, 
your  salvation  would  be  in  peril.  You  know, 
we  have  long  prayed  to  one  saint  and  another, 


JE.  33.]  INDULGENCES.  of)3 

but  they  have  become  old,  and  are  tired  of  attend- 
ing to  us  and  aiding  us.  To-day  is  the  festival  of 
Juvenal,  and  though  he  hath  not  yet  been  known 
to  you,  it  is  all  the  better.  He  is  a  new  saint, 
and  will  hear  us  the  more  patiently.  Juvenal 
was  a  holy  martyr,  who  shed  his  innocent  blood 
for  the  truth.  If  you  would  enjoy  the  benefit 
of  his  innocence,  lay  something,  each  one  of  you, 
upon  the  altar,  on  this  day  of  high  mass.  You, 
that  are  noble  and  rich,  go  forward  and  give  to 
the  rest  a  good  example."  He  received  the  col- 
lection, placed  a  part  of  it  upon  the  altar,  and  took 
the  remainder  himself,  and  said  with  a  smile  to  the 
sexton,  "Now,  we  have  enough  for  our  evening 
cups."  Such  is  the  account  of  the  old  Zwickau 
Chronicle,  and  it  can  hardly  be  supposed  to  be  a 
pure  fiction. 

In  1502,  he  was  selected  as  papal  agent  and 
preacher,  offering  indulgences  for  the  jubilee  that 
had  just  passed,  to  the  multitudes  in  Niirenberg, 
Leipsic,  Magdeburg,  and  other  German  cities  who 
did  not  visit  Rome.  Next,  we  find  him  on  the 
Vistula,  similarly  employed,  and  raising  money 
for  a  crusade  by  the  Teutonic  Knights  against  the 
Russians  and  Tartars.  From  1507  to  1513,  he 
was  itinerating  again  in  the  cities  and  towns  of 
Saxony.  For  two  years  he  made  Annaberg,  a 
new  mining  town  considerably  to  the  south  of 
Leipsic,  his  head-quarters.  "The  surrounding 
mountains,"  said  he,  "would  be  turned  into  sil- 
ver, if  the  people  would  only  purchase  indul- 
gences." 

In  the  summer  of  1510,  while  in  Annaberg,  at 


204  LIFE    OF    LUTHER.  [1517. 

St.  Anne's,  with  the  red  cross  raised,  as  usual,  be- 
fore the  altar,  he  said :  "  Three  days  more,  and  the 
cross  will  be  taken  clown  and  the  door  of  heaven 
closed."  Never  again  would  the  time  return  when 
eternal  life  and  forgiveness  of  sins  would  be  had 
so  cheap,  nor  would  the  liberality  of  the  pope  to 
Germany  ever  be  so  great  again!  "Now,"  said 
he,  "  is  the  accepted  time,  now  is  the  day  of  sal- 
vation." 

At  Gorlitz,  where  the  city  council  wished  to 
raise  money  for  indulgences  to  put  a  copper-roof 
upon  the  principal  church,  Tetzel  was  employed, 
and  was  aided  by  the  parish  preacher,  the  peni- 
tentiary priests,  the  confessors,  the  rector  of  the 
school  and  his  assistants,  and  the  Franciscan 
monks,  and  they  succeeded  in  collecting  forty- 
five  thousand  rix  dollars ! 

Of  the  many  anecdotes  recorded  of  him,  only  one 
more  can  find  a  place  here.  Whether  true  or  not,  it 
is  perfectly  characteristic.  Wishing,  on  a  certain 
occasion,  to  quicken  the  devotions  of  the  people,  he 
promised  to  show  them,  the  next  day,  a  feather 
which  the  devil  plucked  from  the  wing  of  the  arch- 
angel Michael.  But,  during  the  night,  some  rogues 
made  their  way  into  his  room,  found  the  box  of 
relics,  took  out  the  feather  and  put  some  coals  in  its 
place.  Next  morning  he  proceeded  to  the  church 
with  his  box,  without  having  opened  it,  and  spoke 
at  large  of  the  virtues  of  this  celestial  feather, 
and,  opening  the  box,  behold  there  was  nothing 
but  some  black  coals!  Not  at  all  disconcerted, 
he  exclaimed,  "No  marvel  that,  with  such  a  trea- 
sure of  relics,  I  have  chanced  to  take  the  wrong 


M.  33.]  INDULGENCES.  205 

box,"  and  went  right  on  to  explain  the  value  of 
these  coals,  which  were  the  remains  of  the  burnt 
body  of  St.  Laurentius  !  Nothing  better  illustrates 
the  childish  character  and  spirit  of  those  times 
than  such  original  anecdotes,  whether  true  or  false. 

Tetzel  afterward  went  to  Innspruck,  where  he 
was  detected  in  the  grossest  immorality  and  lewd- 
ness, and  at  the  intercession  of  powerful  friends, 
instead  of  being  enclosed  in  a  sack  and  cast  into 
the  river,  according  to  the  sentence  passed  against 
hi  in,  was  only  imprisoned. 

Before  we  proceed  further  with  our  narrative, 
we  must  introduce  another  new  personage,  though 
of  a  very  different  order, — Albert,  the  accomplished 
but  worldly  and  ambitious  Archbishop  of  Mainz, 
a  young  prince  now  twenty-eight  years  old.  He 
was  the  youngest  brother  of  Joachim  I.,  Elector 
of  Brandenburg,  (Prussia.)  He  had  been  care- 
fully educated  under  Eitelwolf  von  Stein,  an  ar- 
dent lover  of  classical  literature,  and  one  of  the 
founders  of  the  Frankfurt  University  on  the  Oder. 
The  young  prince  attached  himself  to  the  liberal 
party,  and  favoured  the  cause  of  Reuchlin,  Eras- 
mus and  Von  Ilutten.  Being  destined  for  the 
church,  he  was,  while  a  boy,  made  canon  at 
Magdeburg,  Mainz  and  Treves.  At  the  age  of 
twenty-four,  he  was  made  Archbishop  of  Magde- 
burg, and  ten  days  later,  Administrator  of  llal- 
berstadt,  and,  in  live  months  from  that  time, 
Archbishop  and  Elector  of  Mainz,  thus  holding, 
at  the  same  time,  three  of  the  large  and  wealthy 
sees  of  Germany.  For  the  see  of  Magdeburg,  he 
had  obtained  from  Home  the  pallium,  (the  arch 

18 


206  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1517. 

bishop's  badge  of  office,)  at  great  expense.  He 
was  not  sufficiently  in  funds  to  procure,  at  his 
own  expense,  another  for  the  see  of  Mainz,  and 
yet,  at  his  election,  it  was  expressly  stipulated 
that  he,  and  not  the  people,  should  be  at  that  ex- 
pense. Albert  being  the  third  archbishop  elected 
at  Mainz  within  a  period  of  eight  years,  the  see, 
if  it  paid  for  his  pallium  thirty  thousand  florins, 
the  usual  sum  given,  would,  during  that  short  pe- 
riod, be  at  the  enormous  expense  of  ninety  thou- 
sand florins  for  that  white  strip  of  cloth.*  Albert 
was  obliged  to  borrow  the  money  of  Jacob  Fug- 
ger,  the  rich  broker,  the  Rothschild  of  Augsburg. 
To  get  out  of  his  pecuniary  embarrassments,  he 
applied  to  the  pope  for  the  appointment  of  com- 
missary of  indulgences  in  his  own  three  dioceses 
and  in  the  Mark  of  Brandenburg,  for  a  period  of 
three  years.  The  appointment  was  given  him  on 
the  condition  that  he  was  to  retain  half  of  all  the 
money  that  should  be  collected,  and  pay  the  re- 
mainder to  the  pope,  as  usual,  for  building  St. 
Peter's.  The  appointment  was  afterward  con- 
firmed and  extended. 

Meanwhile  Tetzel  had  got  released  from  prison, 
with  the  understanding  that  he  should  proceed  to 
Rome  and  obtain  absolution  from  the  pope.  He 
went  by  way  of  Mainz,  and  desired  Albert  to  use 
his  good  offices  in  recommending  him  to  the  papal 
favour,  promising  his  services  in  turn,  if  success- 
ful, in  raising  the  thirty  thousand  florins.     With 

*   It  was  made  of  lamb's  wool,  spun  and  woven   by  nuns,  and 
consecrated  at  the  graves  of  the  apostles  Peter  and  Paul. 


JE.  33.]  INDULGENCES.  207 

a  letter  of  recommendation  from  the  archbishop, 
he  went  to  Home  and  applied  to  Leo,  who  was 
not  very  nice  in  matters  of  morality,  and  not  only 
obtained  absolution,  but  was  made  sub-commis- 
sary for  disposing  of  indulgences  under  Arcim- 
boldi,  general  commissary  for  Germany.  In 
April,  1516,  Tetzel  was  in  Wurzen  practising  his 
old  art,  to  which  most  of  his  public  life  was  de- 
Aoted,  and  this  was  the  time  that  Luther  and 
Staupitz  came  in  near  contact  with  him,  when 
they  were  at  Grimma.  Arcimboldi  resigning  his 
office  near  the  end  of  the  same  year,  Albert  was 
raised  to  the  post  of  nuncio  and  general  commis- 
sary; and  Tetzel  went  immediately  to  Halle,  the 
favourite  residence  of  Albert,  and  entered  into 
his  service.  Of  this  last  connection,  Luther  was 
ignorant;  and  very  innocently  wrote  to  Albert, 
as  his  ecclesiastical  superior,  requesting  him  to 
put  a  stop  to  the  shameful  traffic  ! 

In  the  Archbishop  Albert,  and  in  Pope  Leo, 
Luther  found  himself  disappointed  even  more 
than  in  Erasmus.  They  were  all  enlightened  and 
liberal  men,  but  their  interest  overruled  their  bet- 
ter judgment,  and  they  all  became  the  personal 
enemies  of  the  reformer,  whom  they  respected 
and  feared;  and  whom,  in  the  main  points  in 
question,  they  knew  to  be  in  the  right. 

It  was  about  the  beginning  of  the  year  1517 
that  Tetzel  entered  the  service  of  Albert,  and 
well  did  he  redeem  the  pledge  given  when  on  his 
way  to  Rome;  for,  during  the  year,  he  succeeded 
in  collecting  one  hundred  thousand  florins,  in 
nominal    value   sixty-two   thousand    five   hundred 


208  LIFE    OF   LUTHER.  [1517. 

dollars,  but  in  real  value  vastly  more.  In  the 
Saxon  territories,  Tetzel  was  not  very  popular. 
The  Saxon  house  was,  moreover,  jealous  of  the 
house  of  Brandenburg,  and  did  not  care  to  have 
their  lands  drained  to  fill  Albert's  coffers.  Tetzel, 
therefore,  found  the  best  reception  either  in  Al- 
bert's territories,  the  sees  of  Magdeburg  and 
Halberstadt,  or  in  those  of  his  brother,  Joachim 
of  Brandenburg.  From  February  to  June,  we 
find  him  at  Halle,  (which  belonged  to  the  diocese 
of  Magdeburg,)  at  Annaberg,  and  once  at  Leipsic. 
In  September,  he  went  north  to  Berlin,  was  a 
short  time  at  Zerbst,  and  finally  came  to  Jiiter- 
boch,  in  a  detached  district  of  Magdeburg,  about 
eighteen  miles  to  the  north-east  of  Wittenberg, 
and  there  he  was  the  means  of  calling  out  Luther. 
The  house  of  a  certain  Tupitz,  in  which  Tetzel 
then  lodged,  is  still  shown  to  visitors. 

It  was  reported  to  Luther  that  Tetzel  made  the 
following  declarations  in  his  sermons,  viz :  That 
he  had  such  grace  and  power  from  the  pope,  that 
though  one  had  corrupted  the  Holy  Virgin  Mary, 
the  mother  of  God,  he  could  grant  forgiveness — 
provided  the  individual  should  put  into  the  box 
the  proper  amount  of  mone}r;  that  the  red  cross 
of  indulgence,  with  the  papal  coat  of  arms,  when 
erected  in  the  church,  had  as  much  efficacy  as  the 
cross  of  Christ;  that,  if  St.  Peter  were  present, 
he  could  not  have  greater  grace  and  power  than 
he  himself  had;  that  he  would  not  divide  with 
St.  Peter  in  heaven,  for  he  had  redeemed  more 
souls  with  his  indulgences  than  Peter  had  with 
his  preaching;  that  when  one  puts  money  into  the 


M.  33.]  INDULGENCES.  209 

box  for  a  soul  in  purgatory,  such  soul  escaped  to 
heaven  as  soon  as  the  money  tinkled  in  the  box; 
that  the  grace  of  indulgences  was  the  very  grace 
by  which  a  man  was  reconciled  to  God;  and  that 
if  one  obtained  indulgences,  or  a  certificate  of 
indulgence,  there  was  no  need  of  contrition,  nor 
sorrow,  nor  repentance. 

Some  of  these  statements,  particularly  those 
more  offensive  to  Papal  than  to  Protestant  ears, 
may  be  exaggerated.     At  any  rate,  Tetzel  pro- 
cured two  certificates  from  the  clergy  and  authori- 
ties in  Halle,  where  the  first  statement  was  said 
to  have  been  made,  testifying  to  the    contrary. 
Those  certificates  were  first  discovered  and  pub- 
lished in  1844.     But  that  the  reports  were  for 
the  most  part  true,  is  evident,  not  only  from  what 
Luther  says,  but  from  Tetzel's  own  words.     In 
his  published  instructions  to  the  priests,  he  said, 
"  Let  the  people  consider  that  Rome  is  here.    God 
and  St.  Peter  call  you.     Give  your  mind,  then,  to 
the   obtaining  of  such  great  grace,  both  for  the 
salvation   of  your  own  souls   and  those  of  3'our 
deceased  friends.      They  that   impede  this  work 
arc  thereby  excommunicated  by  the  pope,  and  are 
under  the  indignation  of  Almighty  God,  and  of 
St.  Peter  and  Paul."     In  his  printed  sermons  he 
said,  "Let  your  sheep  [an  ominous  word]  know 
that   on  these  letters  are  imprinted  and  inscribed 
all  the  ministries  of  the  suffering  of  Christ.     For 
every  mortal  sin  a  man  must  needs  endure  seven 
years'  penance,  either  in  this  life  or  in  purgatory. 
But  with  these  letters  of  pardon  you  can  at  one 
time,  and  for  all  cases,  have  plenary  indulgence 
18* 


210  LIFE  OF  LUTHER.  [1517. 

from  all  penalties  due  unto  that  time;  and,  after- 
ward, throughout  all  your  lives,  whensoever  you 
shall  wish  to  confess,  you  can  have  a  like  remis- 
sion ;  and,  last  of  all,  in  the  article  of  death,  plenary 
indulgence  from  all  penalties  and  sins." 

In  order  to  be  prepared  to  estimate  rightly  the 
work  of  Luther,  one  must  understand  not  only 
what  his  character  and  views  were,  and  what  the 
corruptions  and  abuses  of  the  church  were,  but 
also  what  others  before  his  time  had  thought  and 
said  on  the  same  subject.  But  not  every  kind  of 
opposition  which  was  made  to  the  papal  hierarchy 
can  claim  to  be  a  reformation.  A  reformation,  in 
the  proper  sense  of  the  term,  is  not  merely  the 
reaction  of  reason  and  philosophy  against  stupidity 
and  folly,  as  some  modern  rationalists  would  have 
it ;  nor  of  classical  education  and  refinement  against 
ignorance  and  barbarism,  such  as  was  manifested 
by  many  in  Italy,  France  and  Germany  at  the 
revival  of  learning ;  nor  of  civil  liberty  and  national 
independence  against  the  tyranny  of  a  foreign 
ecclesiastic,  for  in  this  many  German  emperors, 
princes  and  statesmen  were  far  from  being  defi- 
cient; but  it  is  the  reaction  of  a  pure  and  spiritual 
Christianity,  resting  solely  on  the  Bible,  against 
the  degeneracy,  corruption,  false  authority  and 
traditions  of  the  church  of  Rome;  a  sort  of  Chris- 
tianized Boodhism,  which  had  subjugated  the 
masses  of  the  people  to  an  almost  unheard-of 
superstition  and  spiritual  despotism. 

To  this   monstrous  system  of  abuses,  men  of 
profound   piety  and   of  great  hearts  had  offered 


M.  33.]  INDULGENCES.  211 

resistance  in  the  form  of  religious  and  theological 
objections,  long  before  the  time  of  Luther.  To 
say  nothing  of  such  men  as  Wielif  and  IIuss,  out 
of  Germany,  or  of  the  many  in  Germany  who  had 
uttered  their  unavailing  lamentations  and  transient 
murmurs,  we  may  mention  three  men,  whose  thea- 
tre of  action  was  a  lung  the  middle  and  lower 
Rhine,  who  were,  theoretically,  far  in  advance  of 
Luther  at  the  time  of  publishing  his  well-k,nown 
theses;  namely,  John  of  Goch,  whose  public  life 
covered  the  interval  from  1450  to  1475;  John  of 
Wesel,  professor  of  theology  at  Erfurt  from  the 
year  1440  to  14 GO,  and  then,  for  about  twenty 
years,  preacher  at  Mainz  and  Worms ;  and  John 
Wessel,  a  disciple  of  Thomas  a  Kempis,  and,  from 
1451  to  1479,  professor  in  Cologne,  Paris  and 
Heidelberg.  What  these  men  did,  for  about  the 
last  quarter  of  a  century  before  Luther's  birth,  in 
undermining  the  foundations  of  the  papal  hierar- 
chy, was  certainly  not  without  its  effect  upon  the 
community;  preparing  it  for  Luther's  influence, 
though  he  himself  was  formed  for  his  great  enter- 
prise independently  of  them. 

The  first  of  the  three  theologians  here  named, 
who  regarded  the  Bible  as  the  only  authority  in 
matters  of  religion,  and  Christ  as  the  only  media- 
tor and  helper,  treated,  in  his  writings,  largely  of 
grace  and  works,  and  is  even  an  abler  and  clearer 
writer  on  this  subject  than  Luther.  Of  the 
last  of  the  three,  Luther  himself  says,  "If  I  had 
formerly  read  his  works,  Luther  might  have 
appeared  to  his  enemies  as  having  derived  every 
thing  from  Wessel,  so  perfectly  is  the  spirit  of 


•21-2  LIFE   OF   LUTIIEE.  [1517. 

both  the  same.     This  coincidence  giveth  me  new 
joy  and  strength." 

The  second,  John  of  Wesel,  took  up  the  subject 
of  indulgences  in  particular,  and  was  more  mature 
and  more  decided  than  Luther  was  at  the  com- 
mencement. The  very  title  of  his  book,  which 
was  not  "On  Indulgences,"  but  "Against  Indul- 
gences," is  indicative  of  his  position.  Among 
other  things,  he  says:  "We  read  the  discourses 
of  Christ,  containing,  perhaps,  all  that  is  neces- 
sary to  salvation,  but  we  find  in  them  nothing 
touching  indulgences.  Afterward  the  apostles 
wrote  epistles  and  preached,  but  in  them  there  is 
no  mention  made  of  indulgences.  Finally,  the 
distinguished  teachers  Gregory  of  Nazianzum,  Ba- 
sil, Athanasius,  Chrysostom,  Ambrose,  Jerome, 
and  Augustine  wrote  many  works,  approved  by 
the  church,  and  yet  they  contain  nothing  about 
indulgences."  "  That  any  priest,  or  even  the  pope, 
can  give  indulgences  by  which  a  man  may  be  re- 
leased from  all  the  punishments  imposed  by  God, 
is  not  taught  in  the  Scriptures."  "  Some  say,  and 
this  is  the  common  opinion,  that  Christ  gave  to 
the  church  the  keys  of  jurisdiction,  and  that  in- 
dulgences rest  on  this  power.  They  say  so,  but 
do  not  prove  it.  Neither  the  Old  Testament  nor 
the  New  saith  any  thing  about  the  keys  of  juris- 
diction. Jurisdiction,  as  it  is  now  in  the  church, 
was  brought  in  by  men."  "  One  may  affirm  that 
indulgences  are  a  pious  deception  of  believers, 
and  so  many  priests  have  said.  They  are  a  pious 
deception,  because  believers  are  thereby  moved 
to    make    pilgrimages   to   holy   places;    to    give 


JE.  33.]       COLLISION  WITH  TETZEL.  213 

alms  for  pious  uses;  to  build  churches;  and  to 
raise  armies  against  the  infidels.  They  believe 
they  shall  thereby  be  delivered  from  the  punish- 
ment due  to  their  sins,  and  from  suffering  in  pur- 
gatory.    In  this  they  are  deceived." 

Enough,  perhaps,  has  been  said  to  indicate  what 
is  important  in  the  circumstances  under  which 
Luther  entered  publicly  upon  what  may,  without 
a  licet  at  ion,  be  called  his  "mission." 


Section  II. — Luther's  Collision  with  Tetzel,  and  the  Publica- 
tion of  the  N'uicty-jice  Theses. 

For  a  year  and  a  half  before  the  controversy 
broke  out  between  Luther  and  Tetzel,  the  former 
had  directed  his  attention  to  the  abuses  practised 
in  the  sale  of  indulgences.  His  exposition  of  the 
decalogue,  delivered  as  lectures,  as  early  as  1516, 
and  afterward  published,  may  be  referred  to  as 
evidence.  A  sermon  against  indulgences,  as  then 
dispensed,  delivered  July  17,  1517,  in  the  pre- 
sence of  the  elector,  who  had,  but  little  more  than 
a  year  before,  procured  the  right  of  granting  in- 
dulgences in  the  very  same  church  where  the 
preacher  now  stood,  was  not  much  relished  by  the 
prince.  When  Luther  perceived  that  half  of  the 
population  of  Wittenberg  were  resorting  to  Juter- 
bock  and  Zerbst.  where  Tetzel  and  his  colleague 
Ranch  were  practising  their  ails  upon  the  igno- 
rant populace,  he  warned  his  hearers,  in  a  dis- 
course held  in  the  little  old  cloister-chapel,  againsl 
the  deception.  "  It  would  be  better/'  said  he,  "to 
give  alms  In  the  poor,  according  to  the  command  of 


214  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1517. 

Christ,  than  to  buy  with  money  such  uncertain  grace. 
He  that  repenteth  during  all  his  life,  and  turneth 
to  God  with  all  his  heart,  receiveth  heavenly  grace, 
and  the  forgiveness  of  all  his  sins;  which  Christ,  by 
his  sacrifice  and  blood,  hath  obtained  for  us,  and 
oflereth  us  without  money,  from  pure  grace." 

Meanwhile,  Luther  perceived  that  some  of  his 
congregation,  who  had  purchased  indulgences, 
relied  upon  their  certificates,  and  consequently 
did  not  come  to  the  confessional,  nor  seek  ab- 
solution before  the  communion.  He,  therefore, 
refused  to  administer  to  them  the  supper,  un- 
less they  would  first  make  to  him  confession  of 
their  sins,  and  submit  to  the  penances  he  should 
impose.  This  they  refused  to  do,  and  referred  to 
their  certificates  of  indulgence,  in  which  they  were 
pronounced  absolved  from  the  grossest  crimes — 
not  only  past,  but  those  yet  to  be  committed;  and 
that  without  penitence  or  satisfaction.  Luther 
adhered  to  his  resolution;  and  said,  to  the  great 
surprise  and  consternation  of  the  individuals  con- 
cerned, "Except  ye  repent,  ye  shall  all  likewise 
perish."  Some  of  them  went  back  to  Tetzel,  com- 
plained that  Luther  would  not  receive  the  certifi- 
cates, and  demanded  their  money  again,  but  to  no 
] impose.  Tetzel,  who  was  also  inquisitor,  was 
thrown  into  a  rage  of  passion ;  and,  in  his  sermons, 
poured  out  curses  upon  the  heretics ;  and,  to  give 
emphasis  to  his  denunciations,  he  caused,  at  dif- 
ferent times,  piles  of  fagots  to  be  kindled  in  the 
public  squares,  as  signals  of  what  awaited  the 
heretic  who  should  dare  utter  a  word  against  the 
papal  indulgences. 


M.  33.]  COLLISION   WITH   TETZEL.  215 

There  are  three  stages  of  the  doctrine  of  indul- 
gences, which,  in  the  case  of  Luther,  must  ho  dis- 
tinguished from  each  other.  The  first  is  that  of 
the  ancient  church,  in  which  indulgence  is  the 
mere  relaxation  or  removal  of  ecclesiastical,  that 
is,  human  penalties,  in  respect  to  penitents  who 
confess  their  faults  and  feel  contrition.  The 
second  is  that  which  prevailed  in  the  twelfth  and 
thirteenth  centuries,  when  penance  had  become  a 
sacrament ;  and  the  indulgence  was  a  spiritual 
grace,  securing  the  forgiveness  of  sin;  but  true 
repentance  was  a  condition  <»f  pardon.  The  third 
A\as  the  same  system,  except  that  the  condition 
of  repentance  was  but  little  regarded,  and  in  some 
cases  declared  not  to  be  necessary;  as  in  some  of 
the  later  papal  bulls,  and  in  the  instructions  and 
public  declarations  of  Tetzel.  In  the  first  of  these, 
Luther  was  still  a  sincere  believer.  The  third  he 
openly  assailed,  without  knowing  that  either  Leo 
or  Albert  were  implicated.  In  respect  to  the 
second,  he  spoke  doubtfully,  and  by  way  of  dis 
cussion,  ready  to  adopt  whatever  should  be  proved 

Luther,  in  these  circumstances,  felt  it  his  dut> 
to  write  to  Albert,  his  metropolitan,  as  Archbisho] 
of  Magdeburg,  and  Jerome  Scultet,  Bishop  of 
Brandenburg,  to  whose  see  Wittenberg  belonged, 
informing  them  of  the  disorders  and  aliases  against 
which  he  had  already  preached;  and  calling  upon 
them  to  interpose  their  episcopal  and  metropolitan 
authority,  and  put  a  stop  to  the  evil.  But  Albert 
had  good  reasons  for  paying  no  regard  to  the 
request.  Scultet  replied,  indeed,  bui  timidly  am! 
unsatisfactorily.    Luther  then  wrote  to  the  Bishops 


216  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1517. 

of  Meissen  and  of  Merseburg  and  of  Naumburg, 
but  with  what  effect  is  not  known.  None  of  the 
above-mentioned  letters  have  been  preserved. 

Perceiving  that  nothing  was  to  result  from  the 
application  he  had  made  to  his  ecclesiastical  supe- 
riors, he  felt  bound  in  conscience  to  perform  his 
duty  as  preacher  in  the  city  parish,  where  he  was 
assistant  of  Pontanus,  and  accordingly  preached 
anew  on  the  subject  there.  Nor  was  he  content 
with  his  efforts  to  check  the  evil  in  a  practical 
way  before  the  common  people,  where  it  began, 
but  he  resolved  to  bring  forward  the  subject  of  in- 
dulgences as  a  matter  of  public  debate  before  the 
learned,  and  before  the  theologians  as  such.  The 
Electoral  Church,  on  account  of  its  many  sacred 
relics,  and  the  indulgences  which  could  be  pro- 
cured there  on  certain  days,  attracted  many  pil- 
grims ;  particularly  on  the  first  of  November,  the 
anniversary  of  the  dedication,  and  All  Saints'  day. 
Luther  took  the  occasion  of  that  solemn  celebra- 
tion for  a  disputation;  and,  on  the  day  before,, viz. 
Saturday,  October  31,  at  twelve  o'clock,  posted  up, 
on  the  doors  of  that  church,  his  ninety-five  propo- 
sitions respecting  the  power  of  papal  indulgences, 
inviting  any  and  all  persons  to  discuss  the  subject 
with  him. 

These  theses  have  a  very  remarkable  character 
and  history.  They  show  that  the  mind  of  their 
author  was  drifting  on  a  current  in  a  direction  of 
which  lie  himself  was  hardly  aware.  An  expres- 
sion of  abject  submission  to  the  authority  of  the 
church  and  of  the  pope, — still  a  part  of  his  reli- 
gion,— and  then  a  startling  declaration,  or  a  sar- 


M.  33.]  COLLISION   WITH   TETZEL.  217 

casm  that  shocked  the  servile  sons  of  the  church 
and  servants  of  the  pope;  and,  to  finish  the  medley, 
some  doubts,  thrown  out  to  elicit  discussion — 
these  are  the  three  ingredients  of  propositions, 
which  acted  with  the  velocity  of  lightning,  and 
threw  all  the  centre  of  Europe  into  a  ferment. 

Though  designed  only  for  the  learned,  and  pro- 
posed only  as  a  sketch  of  the  topics  for  debate, 
they  were  translated  and  circulated  by  thousands 
among  all  classes.  Luther,  perceiving  that  an  un- 
expected and  uncxtinguishable  fire  was  kindled  in 
the  popular  mind,  and  that  the  propositions,  by 
their  abstruse,  scholastic  and  querying,  rather  than 
affirmatory  character,  were  ill  adapted  for  the 
common  people,  published  a  sermon  in  the  ver- 
nacular tongue,  the  substance  of  discourses  pre- 
viously delivered  to  the  people,  in  which  he  first 
struck  upon  that  popular  tone  of  plain  and  ener- 
getic eloquence  for  which  he  was  ever  afterward 
distinguished.  From  the  latter  part  of  this  ser- 
mon, as  better  adapted  than  the  theses  to  give 
a  plain  and  simple  view  of  Luther's  opinions  at 
that  time,  we  shall  here  make  a  few  extracts. 
After  laying  down  eleven  propositions,  he  pro- 
ceeds to  say: 

"12.  We  are  told,  indeed,  that  for  the  residue 
of  the  punishment,  the  sinner  should  be  referred 
to  purgatory,  or  to  indulgences.  But  many  other 
things  are  also  said  without  reason  or  evidence. 

"13.  It  is  a  great  error  for  one  to  think  to 
make  satisfaction  for  his  sins,  in  that  God  always 
(brgiveth  gratuitously  and  from  his  boundless 
grace,  requiring  therefor    nothing  but  honest  liv- 

19 


ojg  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1517. 

ing.  The  church  cloth  indeed  require  somewhat, 
[penance,  as  a  sign  of  sorrow,]  but  it  may  and 
should  mitigate  its  demands,  and  ought,  moreover, 
never  to  lay  upon  men  any  thing  too  grievous  and 
intolerable. 

"14.  Indulgence  is  granted  unto  weak  and 
slothful  Christians,  that  will  not  manfully  exercise 
themselves  in  good  works,  or  endure  mortifications. 
For  indulgences  carry  no  one  forward  in  godliness, 
but  rather  bear  with  and  wink  at  his  backward- 
ness. For  this  cause  no  one  ought  to  speak 
against  indulgences,  nor  ought  any  one  to  be  per- 
suaded to  them. 

"15.  One  would  act  much  more  safely,  and  do 
far  better,  to  give  purely  for  God's  sake  and  the 
building  of  St.  Peter,  or  unto  any  other  object, 
than  to  take  indulgences  for  it.  For  it  is  not  safe 
to  give,  in  such  matters,  moved  by  indulgences 
rather  than  by  the  love  of  God. 

"16.  Far  better  is  a  deed  of  charity  done  to 
the  poor  than  a  tribute  for  building  churches,  or 
than  indulgences  granted  for  the  same.  For,  as 
before  said,  one  good  deed  performed  is  better  than 
many  omitted.  Indulgence  is  a  relaxing  of  the 
requirement  of  many  good  works;  otherwise  no 
indulgence  would  be  given.  .  .  .  My  will,  desire, 
entreaty  and  counsel  are,  that  no  one  obtain  in- 
dulgences. Let  loitering  and  drowsy  Christians 
do  after  this  manner;  but  do  thou  go  thine  own 
way. 

"17.  Indulgences  are  not  things  required,  or 
even  recommended;  but  pertain  to  those  things 
which   are   only   permitted   or   allowed.      There- 


M.  33.]  COLLISION   WITH   TETZEL.  219 

fore  it  is  not  a  work  of  obedience,  nor  meritorious, 
but  a  drawing  away  from  obedience.  Therefore, 
though  wre  may  not  forbid  men  to  obtain  indulgence, 
we  ought  to  dissuade  all  Christians  therefrom,  and 
exhort  and  move  them  to  do  those  works  and  suf- 
fer those  pains  which  are  remitted  in  indulgence. 

"18.  Whether  souls  be  delivered  from  purgatory 
by  indulgency  or  no,  is  more  than  I  can  tell ;  but 
I  do  not  hold  to  that  opinion  yet.  Certain  modern 
teachers  hold  and  maintain  it,  but  they  cannot 
prove  it ;  neither  hath  the  church  established  it  as 
true.  It  is  therefore  much  safer  that  thou  thyself 
shouldest  pray  and  act  for  them.  For  this  is  more 
sure  and  certain. 

"  19.  On  these  questions  I  make  no  doubt.  They 
are  sufficiently  settled  in  the  Scriptures.  You,  there- 
fore, should  not  doubt,  but  let  the  scholastic  teachers 
be  scholastic  teachers.  All  of  them  together  can- 
not give  authority  to  a  doctrine  with  their  opinions. 

"20.  If  some,  to  whose  coffers  such  truth  is  not 
of  advantage,  shall  cry  out  and  call  me  a  heretic, 
I  shall  little  heed  their  clamour,  inasmuch  as  it 
will  be  made  only  by  those  cloudy  heads  that 
have  had  no  taste  of  the  Bible,  that  have  never 
studied  the  Christian  doctrines,  that  have  never 
understood  their  own  teachers,  but  in  their  ragged 
and  tattered  opinions  have  gone  well-nigh  to  de- 
cay. For  had  they  understood  them,  they  had 
known  that  no  man  is  to  be  condemned  until  he 
has  been  heard  and  confuted." 

At  a  later  period,  Luther,  looking  back  upon 
his  first  efforts  at  reform,  speaks  thus:  "By  these 
theses  [then  published  anew]  will  be  publicly  set 


2'20  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1517. 

forth  my  shame,  that  is,  my  great  weakness  and. 
ignorance,  which,  at  first,  made  me  begin  the 
work  with  great  fear  and  trembling.  I  was  alone ; 
and  plunged  myself  into  the  business  without 
foresight;  and  now  that  I  could  not  go  back,  1 
not  only  gave  place  to  many  weighty  articles  of 
the  pope,  but  sincerely  and  earnestly  reverenced 
him.  .  .  .  What  and  how  my  heart  endured  and 
suffered  the  first  and  second  year;  into  what  hu- 
mility, not  false  and  feigned,  but  real,  nay  into 
what  despondency  I  sunk,  the  unmolested  actors 
of  these  peaceful  times  know  little.  ...  I,  who 
braved  the  danger  alone,  was  not  so  easy,  confi- 
dent and  sure  of  my  cause.  I  was  then  ignorant 
of  much  that  I  now,  thank  God,  know.  I  only 
debated  the  matter,  and  was  ready  to  be  in- 
structed  With  great  earnestness  and  vene- 
ration I  held  the  church  of  the  pope  to  be  the 
true  church." 

No  one  had  appeared,  at  the  time  appointed,  to 
debate  with  Luther  on  the  subjects  embraced  in 
his  theses.  On  the  festival  day,  he  had  preached 
before  the  multitude,  though  with  great  modera- 
tion, on  the  subject  of  indulgences.  A  few  days 
after,  probably  within  a  week,  he  published  the 
sermon  above  mentioned.  As  there  had  been  no 
free  and  extended  discussion  of  these  topics,  and 
as  his  brief  intimations  in  the  theses  were  liable 
to  be  misunderstood,  especially  by  the  common 
people,  for  whom  they  were  not  designed,  he 
wished  to  publish  an  extended  explanation  of  his 
views,  and  for  this  purpose  wrote  his  work  enti- 
tled "  Proofs  or  Solutions  of  the  Theses."     But 


M.  33.]        COLLISION  WITH  TETZEL.  221 

his  bishop  objected  to  their  publication,  as  we 
learn  from  the  following  letter  to  Spalatin,  dated 
Nov.  1517:  "Yesterday  the  Abbot  of  Lenin  [a 
rich  abbey  situated  nearly  midway  between  Wit- 
tenberg and  Brandenburg]  was  here.  In  the  name 
and  in  behalf  of  the  Bishop  of  Brandenburg  did 
he  come,  bringing  a  letter  from  him,  and  likewise 
saying  to  me,  by  our  bishop's  order,  that  he, 
the  bishop,  desired  and  entreated  me  to  put  off 
the  publishing  of  my  Proofs  and  other  similar 
writings.  He  was  sorely  grieved  that  I  had  put 
forth  the  sermon  on  Indulgences,  and  desired  that 
it  should  not  be  published  again  or  sold  any  fur- 
ther. Overcome  with  modesty  that  so  high  a 
prelate  should  humble  himself  to  send  unto  me 
such  an  abbot,  I  said  on  this  behalf  alone,  'Very 
well,  I  would  rather  obey  than  do  miracles.'  .  .  . 
Although,  in  his  esteem,  nothing  heretical  was  to 
be  found  in  those  writings,  but  every  thing  was 
orthodox,  and  though  he  himself  did  condemn 
those  indiscreet  declarations  (as  they  are  called) 
on  the  power  of  indulgences,  yet,  to  avoid  offence, 
he  thought  it  best  to  remain  silent  for  a  season 
and  delay  publishing." 

To  J.  Lange  of  Erfurt,  he  wrote  under  date 
of  Nov.  11,  1517,  sending  at  the  same  time  a 
copy  of  his  theses :  "  If  your  theologians  should 
be  offended  at  these,  and  say  (as  all  the  world 
doth  of  me)  that  I  declare  my  opinions  and  im- 
pugn other  mens  rashly  and  arrogantly,  .  .  . 
say  to  them,  in  my  name,  that  I  commend  their 
ripe  modesty  and  grave  moderation,  so  that 
they  reduce  their  principles  to  practice.  .  .  .  But 

19* 


222  LIFE    OF   LUTHER.  1517. 

why  do  they  not  use  moderation  in  their  judg- 
ment of  me  ?  Why  do  they  not  modestly  wait 
for  the  issue  of  the  controversy?"  He  signs 
himself,  "Martinus  Eleutherias,  (freeman,)  or 
rather  servant  and  captive  at  Wittenberg." 

In  a  letter  of  the  same  date  to  Spalatin,  he  ac- 
knowledges the  receipt  of  a  piece  of  cloth,  and 
thanks  the  prince  for  the  present. 

In  another  letter  of  but  five  lines,  written  in 
November,  to  the  same,  he  says,  "  To  be  short, 
I  will  do  all  that  you  ask  in  your  letter.  The 
bishop  has  made  answer  and  released  me  from 
my  promise.  Only  I  do  not  know  whether  I  can 
preach  these  three  following  days.  Nevertheless 
I  wTill  see ;  if  not,  Amsdorf  can  come  to  my  aid." 

In  these  few  words  we  see  the  busy  and  busi- 
ness-like man,  who  was  beginning  to  attract  that 
universal  attention  which  was  never  afterward 
withdrawn  from  him.  His  relations  to  the  elec- 
tor at  this  period  are  also  apparent  from  his  fa- 
miliar letters.  "  My  theses,"  he  writes  in  the 
same  month  again  to  Spalatin,  "  I  did  not  wish 
to  have  fallen  into  the  hands  of  our  illustrious 
prince  or  any  of  his  court,  till  after  they  had 
seen  them  that  may  find  themselves  touched 
therein,  lest  these  persons  should  think  that  I, 
by  the  command  or  will  of  the  elector,  had  sent 
them  forth  against  the  Bishop  of  Magdeburg, 
(Albert,)  as  I  hear  say  many  already  imagine. 
But  we  can  now  swear  that  they  were  brought 
to  the  light  without  the  knowledge  of  the  Elec- 
tor Frederic.  More  at  another  time,  for  I  am 
now  very  busy."     In  a  postscript  he  says:  "You 


M.  33.]  COLLISION  WITH   TETZEL.  223 

said  in  your  letter  that  the  prince  had  promised 
me  a  garment.  I  would  fain  know  to  whose 
charge  he  has  committed  the  business."  This  is 
not  the  same  present  mentioned  in  a  previous 
letter.  Luther  recurs  to  the  subject  in  another 
letter,  addressed  a  few  days  after  to  the  elector 
himself,  in  such  a  manner  as  to  give  us  a  peep 
into  court  life,  as  well  as  a  view  of  the  character 
of  both  the  elector  and  of  the  reformer.  "Most 
gracious  lord  and  prince,"  he  writes,  "inasmuch 
as  your  grace  formerly  promised,  through  the  Hirs- 
felder,  to  give  me  a  new  garment,  I  now  beg  leave 
to  put  you  in  mind  of  the  same.  But  I  must 
ask,  as  I  did  before,  that  if  Pfeffinger  is  to  fulfil 
the  promise,  he  do  it  by  deed,  and  not  by  soft 
words.  He  knoweth  how  to  spice  up  fine  dis- 
course, but  that  never  maketh  good  cloth." 

After  endeavouring  to  reconcile  him  to  Stau- 
pitz,  who  had  been  misrepresented  and  maligned, 
Luther  proceeds  to  say,  "  To  give  proof  of  my 
fidelity,  and  to  render  myself  worthy  of  my 
court  garment,  I  will  say,  that  I  have  heard 
your  grace  intendeth  after  the  present  taxing  to 
lay  another  and  perhaps  heavier  one  upon  his 
subjects.  If  your  grace  will  not  despise  a  poor 
beggar's  petition,  I  entreat  you  in  God's  name 
not  to  let  that  be  done,  for  it  grieveth  me,  as  it 
doth  many  of  your  grace's  friends,  to  learn  that 
this  last  taxation  hath  derogated  much  from  your 
good  name." 

It  is  time  to  notice  the  various  annoyances 
which  Luther  experienced  in  consequence  of  the 
publication   of  his   theses,   and   the   many   petty 


224  LIFE    OF    LUTHER.  [1517. 

strifes  in  which  his  enemies  engaged  with  him. 
Here  we  shall  see  the  reformer  appearing  in  all 
the  qualities  of  his  mind  and  heart,  profoundly 
sincere  and  honest,  entirely  religious  and  con- 
scientious, though  still  held  in  bondage  to  many 
errors  and  superstitions ;  more  and  more  deeply 
convinced  of  the  justness  and  importance  of  his 
biblical  views  of  theology  and  religion,  and  of 
the  corruption  of  the  church,  of  the  ignorance 
and  stupidity  that  reigned  in  the  monasteries 
and  the  schools,  and  finally  undeceived  in  re- 
spect to  the  character  of  Pope  Leo,  the  Arch- 
bishop Albert,  and  other  high  dignitaries  of  the 
church.  Sometimes  we  shall  see  him  sighing 
over  these  evils ;  sometimes  reasoning  with  Her- 
culean strength  in  order  to  convince  the  wise 
and  the  good ;  sometimes,  when  assailed  by  ma- 
lignant foes  with  the  vilest  arts,  either  indignant 
and  blasting  them  as  by  a  thunderbolt,  or  comi- 
cal and  making  them  appear  superlatively  ridi- 
culous. 

Before  the  close  of  the  year  1517,  Tetzel  sought 
to  elevate  himself  to  an  equality  with  Luther  by 
taking,  at  the  University  of  Frankfurt  on  the 
Oder,  the  degree  of  doctor  of  divinity,  and,  on 
that  occasion,  he  brought  forward  and  defended 
a  set  of  theses  directed  against  those  of  Luther. 
Not  only  was  he  obliged  to  resort  to  Professor 
Wimpina,  a  distinguished  man,  formerly  of  Leip- 
sic,  but  now  of  Frankfurt,  who  was  jealous  of 
the  fame  of  the  Wittenberg  theologians,  to  draw 
up  those  theses  in  tolerable  Latin,  but  he  had 
the  mortification  to  be  beaten  in  the  argument 


2E.  34.]  COLLISION  WITH   TETZEL.  225 

by  a  young  student,  by  the  name  of  Knipstrov. 
Though  the  latter,  for  so  daring  a  crime,  was 
confined  in  a  monastic  prison,  he  was  afterward 
professor  of  theology  and  vice-chancellor  of  the 
University  of  Grreifswald. 

At  the  close  of  the  following  spring,  Tetzel  pub- 
lished a  reply  to  Luther's  sermon  on  Indulgences, 
pointing  out  twenty  alleged  heretical  doctrines 
in  it.  Luther  did  not  let  this  ridiculous  cry  of 
heresy  and  menace  of  the  (lames  pass  unanswered. 
He  said  it  would  be  more  in  keeping  with  the  cha- 
racter and  habits  of  Tetzel,  if,  instead  of  appeal- 
ing to  "water  and  fire,"  he  had  appealed  to  "the 
juice  of  the  grape  and  the  flames  over  which  fowls 
were  roasted."  After  rebuking  the  levity  witli 
which  a  man,  guilty  of  almost  every  crime  named 
in  the  Decalogue,  himself  not  fearing  the  fires 
of  hell  and  eternal  death,  attempted  to  frighten 
Christian  teachers,  as  though  they  were  children, 
by  means  of  fire  and  sword,  he  goes  on  to  say, 
comically  enough :  "Inasmuch  as  this  matter  doth 
not  pertain  to  faith  and  to  salvation,  nor  is  one 
of  necessity  or  of  command,  and  since  these  per- 
sons are  so  very  godly  and  abundant  in  charity 
that  they  are  eager  to  burn  Christians  for  things 
indifferent  and  devoid  of  heresy,  may  my  gra- 
cious God  and  Father  forgive  me,  that,  setting 
aside  all  honour,  as  a  thing  alien  from  you,  I 
should  bid  defiance  to  my  l>aalites.  Here  am  I 
at  Wittenberg,  Dr.  Martin  Luther,  and  if  there 
be  any  inquisitor  who  thinketh  he  can  eat  iron 
and  rend  rocks,  I  hereby  give  him  to  understand 
that  he  shall  have  safe  conduct,  open  doors,  free 


1>26  LIFE    OF    LUTHER.  [1518. 

lodgings  and  living  to  boot,  at  the  expense  of  our 
excellent  prince,  Duke  Frederic,  the  Elector  of 
Saxony." 

Silvester  Prierias,  a  monk  of  the  same  order 
with  Tetzel,  and  master  of  the  sacred  palace  or 
chief  censor  of  books  at  Rome,  replied  to  Lu- 
ther's theses  as  early  as  January,  1518,  and  con- 
sequently was  the  first  writer  who  published  a 
work  against  the  doctrines  of  Luther.  It  was  a 
dialogue,  in  which  the  positions  of  Luther  con- 
stituted one  part,  and  the  replies  of  Prierias  the 
other.  The  sole  aim  of  this  weak  and  supercil- 
ious production  was  to  exalt  the  church  of  Rome, 
and  to  maintain  the  supremacy  of  the  pope. 

The  discussion  which  Luther  had  with  the 
theologians,  at  the  general  meeting  of  his  order 
at  Heidelberg,  in  which  he  developed  his  views 
on  the  great  questions  of  the  day,  was  attend- 
ed with  the  happiest  consequences.  While  his 
arguments  were  such  that  the  aged  men,  who 
disliked  them,  could  not  answer  them,  he  made 
converts  to  his  doctrine  among  young  men  of 
the  highest  promise.  To  these  belonged  Bucer, 
afterward  the  reformer  in  Strassburg  and  in 
England,  Brentz  and  Schnepf,  the  reformers  of 
Suabia. 

With  Eck  also,  with  whom  he  had  lived  on 
terms  of  friendship,  he  was  led  into  a  controversy 
which  ended  in  the  Leipsic  disputation.  And, 
finally,  he  was  obliged  to  defend  himself  against 
the  Bishop  of  Rome.  These  remarks  will  enable 
the  reader  to  understand  without  difficulty  most 
of  Hie    letters    of    Luther,    written    during    the 


IE.  34.]  COLLISION   WITH   TETZEL.  227 

period  immediately  following  the  publication  of 
the  theses. 

To  Spalatin  he  writes  this  hasty  note,  under 
date  of  January  7,  1518:  "The  schedule,  "which 
you  demand,  my  dear  Spalatin,  is  not  with  me. 
I  will  see  whether  it  be  in  Wittenberg  or  no,  and, 
if  it  be,  will  send  it  unto  you.  But  I  send  you 
the  late  phantoms  of  Silvester  [Pricrias]  from  the 
city  [of  Rome,]  which  have  just  come  to  hand 
through  Nuremberg.  When  you  shall  have  read 
them,  do  }rour  diligence  to  send  them  back  to 
Wittenberg,  that  I  may  commune  with  my  friends 
whether  to  answrer  them,  or  let  them  go  unan- 
swered.    I  have  no  other  but  this  one  copy." 

On  the  14th  of  the  same  month,  he  wrote  to  him 
another  long  letter,  from  which  we  take  the  fol- 
lowing :  "  Do  not  think  it  strange,  my  dear  Spala- 
tin, that  certain  persons  should  declare  that  I  was 
overcome  while  at  a  supper  in  Dresden.  They 
say,  and  have  long  been  used  to  say,  whatsoever 
they  please.  I  was  verily  at  the  house  of  Jerome 
Emser  with  Lange  and  the  Dresden  prior,  having 
been  not  so  much  invited  as  forced  to  a  supper. 
Though  I  thought  myself  among  friends,  speedily 
I  found  a  snare  was  laid  for  me.  There  was  a 
paltry  master  there,  who  had  dipped  a  little  into 
Aquinas,  and  thought  himself  wrondrous  wise. 
He,  burning  with  anger  at  inc.  first  entreated  mo 
kindly,  but  when  a  discussion  arose,  he  inveighed 
against  me  bitterly  and  clamorously.  In  the  mean 
season  there  was  standing  without  the  door  a  cer- 
tain mendicant  friar,  who  listened  unto  all  I  said, 
(as  I  afterward  learned,)  and  who  declared  he  was 


228  LIFE    OF    LUTHER.  [1518. 

in  anguish  of  spirit,  and  could  hardly  keep  from 
coming  forth  and  spitting  in  my  face,  and  calling 
me  by  every  evil  name ;  so  vexing  was  it  to  the 
poor  man  that  I  should  confute  that  little  master, 
the  Thomist.  This  is  the  man  that  everywhere 
boasteth,  even  until  now,  that  I  was  so  beaten 
that  I  could  not  say  a  word  either  in  Latin  or  in 
German.  Because  we  spoke  in  Latin  and  German 
commingled,  he  gave  out  that  I  did  not  know  a 
word  of  Latin." 

In  another  letter  to  the  same,  he  gives  his 
friend  advice  and  instruction,  as  to  the  best  way 
of  prosecuting  the  study  of  the  Bible;  and  in  a 
third,  dated  February  15,  1518,  he  replies  to  in- 
quiries in  respect  to  good  works  and  indulgences. 
"As  touching  indulgences,"  he  remarks,  "the  mat- 
ter is  still  in  dispute,  and  my  propositions  are 
drifting  along  in  the  waves  of  calumny.  Two 
things,  however,  I  dare  say;  the  first  unto  you 
alone  and  my  other  friends,  until  the  matter  shall 
be  known  and  come  to  the  light,  namely,  that  in- 
dulgences look  to  me  to  be  nothing  but  a  delusion, 
and  of  no  profit,  save  to  such  as  are  drowsy  and 
sluggish  in  the  way  of  Christ.  Albeit  Carlstadt 
doth  not  hold  the  same  opinion,  I  make  no  doubt 
he  esteemeth  them  lightly.  To  pluck  away  this 
delusion,  I,  for  the  love  of  the  truth,  have  cast 
myself  into  a  dangerous  labyrinth  of  disputation, 
and  have  stirred  up  against  me  a  thousand  cen- 
taurs. Secondly,  ....  I  counsel  you  to  buy  no 
indulgences,  till  you  can  no  longer  find  a  poor 
neighbour  to  give  the  money  to.  I  doubt 
he  will  bring  upon  himself  wrath  who  neglecteth 


JE.  34.]  COLLISION   WITH  TETZEL.  229 

the  poor  and  buyeth  indulgences.  But,  God  will- 
ing, you  shall  see  more  on  this  matter  when  the 
Proofs  of  my  Propositions  come  out.  To  this 
measure  am  I  forced  by  men  more  ferocious  than 
ferocity  itself,  who,  in  all  their  discourses,  pro- 
nounce me  a  heretic;  and  their  wrath  goeth  to 
such  a  length  that,  for  my  sake,  they  arraign  the 
University  of  Wittenberg,  and  stigmatize  it  as 
heretical.  They  are  so  ignorant  of  things,  both 
divine  and  human,  that  it  is  a  reproach  to  have  a 
controversy  with  them;  and  yet  their  ignorance 
giveth  them  incredible  audacity,  and  a  front  of 
more  than  brass.  .  .  .  They  clamorously  give  out 
that  what  I  have  in  hand  took  its  rise  with  our 
illustrious  prince,  out  of  enmity  to  the  Archbishop 
of  Magdeburg  (and  Mainz.)  I  pray  you,  there- 
fore, to  consider  what  must  be  done,  whether  the 
matter  should  be  laid  before  the  prince  or  no.  I 
cannot  abide  that  he  should  be  brought  under 
suspicion  for  my  sake ;  and  I  shudder  with  fear 
and  horror  at  the  thought  of  being  the  cause  of 
dissension  between  such  princes." 

To  Dr.  Scheurl,  advocate  in  Nuremberg,  he 
writes,  March  5 :  "  I  have  received  from  you,  most 
excellent  and  learned  Christopher,  two  letters  at 
the  same  time,  one  in  Lai  in,  the  other  in  German, 
together  with  ;i  gift  from  the  famous  Albert  Diirer, 
(the  painter,)  and  also  my  theses  in  Latin  and  in 
German.  You  marvel  that  I  did  not  send  you  a 
copy.  I  make  answer,  that  it  was  not  my  pur- 
pose nor  will  tli.it  they  should  be  published,  but 
that  they  should  be  examined  by  some  persons  in 
our  own  neighbourhood,  and  afterward,  according 
20 


230  LIFE    OF   LUTHER.  [1518. 

to  their  opinion,  be  condemned  and  abolished,  or 
be  approved  and  published.  But  they  have  been 
printed  and  spread  abroad  beyond  all  expectation, 
so  that  I  repent  of  having  sent  forth  this  foetus, 
not  because  I  am  unwilling  the  common  people 
should  know  the  truth,  for  that  is  what  I  most 
desire,  but  the  manner  and  form  of  it  is  ill  adapted 
for  the  instruction  of  the  people.  Some  things 
therein  contained  are  to  myself  doubtful ;  others  I 
would  have  declared  after  a  different  and  more 
positive  sort,  or  left  out,  had  I  seen  the  end  from 
the  beginning.  Though,  from  this  manner  and 
degree  of  their  dispersion,  I  know  what  men 
think  in  respect  of  indulgences,  nevertheless  they 
do  it  secretly,  for  'fear  of  the  Jews.'  I  am,  there- 
fore, constrained  to  prepare  proofs  and  explanations 
of  the  theses,  though  the  Bishop  of  Brandenburg, 
with  whom  I  have  taken  counsel,  being  much 
troubled  in  this  matter,  hath  caused  me  so  long 
to  delay  the  publishing  of  them.  Nay,  if  the  Lord 
give  me  opportunity,  I  desire  to  bring  out,  in  Ger- 
man, a  treatise  on  the  power  of  indulgences,  and 
thus  to  suppress  those  theses  which  are  so  dis- 
persed." 

March  21,  1518,  he  writes  toLange,  in  Erfurt; 
"Wonderfully  do  the  indulgence-mongers  fulmi- 
nate against  me  from  the  pulpit.  Not  content 
with  the  portentous  names  they  have  given  unto 
me,  they  add  threats,  some  prophesying  that 
within  two  weeks,  others  that  within  one  month, 
I  shall  assuredly  be  burned  by  the  people.  Against 
my  theses  they  now  set  forth  others,  so  that  1 
fear  they  may  burst  for  the  greatness  and  vehe- 


M.  34.]  COLLISION   WITH    TETZEL.  231 

mence  of  their  anger.  Finally,  I  am  besought  by 
everybody  not  to  go  to  Heidelberg,  lest  I  be  de- 
spatched by  fraud,  if  I  cannot  be  by  violence. 
But  I  shall  fulfil  my  duty  of  obedience,  [as  a  monk 
to  attend  the  general  meeting,]  and  shall  journey 
on  foot,  and  pass  through  Erfurt,  if  God  permit. 
Albeit  do  not  tarry  for  me,  for  I  shall  not  set  out 
till  the  13th  of  April.  Our  prince,  moved  by 
great  zeal  for  solid  learning,  hath,  without  our  ask- 
ing, undertaken  earnestly  to  defend  me  and  Carl- 
stadt,  and  will  not  suffer  me  to  be  dragged  to 
Rome,  which  torments  my  enemies  here,  who  are 
not  ignorant  of  his  will  toward  me. 

" To  the  end  that  3011  may  know  the  truth,  if 
the  report  of  the  burning  of  Tetzel's  theses  should 
come  to  your  ears,  and  that  nothing,  as  is  wront  to 
be  the  case,  may  be  added  to  the  tale,  I  will  cer- 
tify you  of  the  matter.  The  students,  holding  in 
odium  the  old  sophistical  studies,  and  being  in- 
clined to  the  Scriptures,  and  perhaps  to  me,  when 
they  had  learned  that  a  man,  sent  by  Tetzel,  the 
author,  had  come  hither,  went  forthwith  to  him, 
to  terrify  him  for  having  the  audacity  to  bring 
such  things  hither.  Some  of  them  did  buy  a  few^ 
copies,  but  others  plucked  away  the  eight  hundred 
which  remained  and  burnt  them,  having  already 
given  notice  that,  if  any  desired  to  see  the  funeral 
pile  of  Tetzel's  theses  burned,  to  be  at  the  place 
at  two  o'clock.  This  was  done  without  the  know- 
ledge  of  the  elector,  of  the  academical  senate,  of 
the  rector,  or  of  any  of  us." 

In  a  letter  to  Egran,  preacher  at  Zwickau,  writ- 
ten March  24th,  he  says,  "Some  obelisks  have  of 


232  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1518. 

late  been  written  against  my  theses  by  a  man  of 
true  learning  and  of  excellent  parts,  and,  what 
gricveth  me  more,  by  one  for  whom  I  had  not 
long  ago  conceived  a  warm  friendship,  Dr.  John 
Eck,  vice-chancellor  of  the  University  of  Ingol- 
stadt,  already  a  noted  man  and  well  known  by  his 
published  works.  Did  I  not  know  the  devices  of 
Satan,  I  should  wonder  what  fury  influenced  him 
to  break  those  new  and  pleasant  bonds  of  friend- 
ship, without  giving  me  any  warning,  or  taking 
leave  of  me.  ...  As  for  myself,  I  desired  to 
swallow  patiently  this  cake,  worthy  of  Cerberus. 
But  my  friends  compel  me  to  reply,  though  I  shall 
do  it  privately.  Blessed  be  the  Lord  Jesus !  to 
him  alone  be  glory.  Confusion  may  deservedly 
cover  us.  Rejoice,  my  brother,  rejoice,  and  be  not 
terrified  by  those  flying  sheets,  nor  cease  to  teach 
as  you  have  begun,  but,  like  the  palm  in  Cadiz, 
rise  under  the  weight  that  is  laid  upon  you.  The 
more  they  rage,  the  more  I  go  on.  I  leave  for- 
mer things  behind  for  them  to  bark  at,  and  go  on 
to  those  that  are  before,  that  they  may  have  more 
to  bark  at." 

On  the  31st  of  March,  he  writes  to  Staupitz: 
"  Being  very  busy,  my  father  in  the  Lord,  I  can 
write  unto  you  but  little.  First,  I  firmly  believe 
that  with  many  my  name  is  in  ill  odour.  So  much 
do  the  good  men  lay  to  my  charge  because  I  have 
condemned  rosaries,  crowns,  psalteries,  and  other 
prayers,  and  indeed  all  good  works.  So  St.  Paul 
was  accused  of  saying  'Let  us  do  evil  that  good 
may  come.'  But  I  have  followed  the  theology  of 
Tauler  and  of  that  work  [the  German  Theology] 


M.  34.]  COLLISION   WITH   TETZEL.  233 

which  you  have  lately  caused  to  be  printed  by 
Aurifaber,  and  teach  that  men  must  put  their  trust 
in  nothing  else  but  Jesus  Christ  alone,  neither  in 
their  prayers  and  merits,  nor  in  their  good  works. 
For,  not  by  our  running,  but  by  God  showing 
mercy,  are  we  saved.  From  such  teachings  do 
those  men  draw  forth  the  poison  which  you  see 
them  scatter  abroad.  But  as  I  did  not  begin, 
so  neither  will  1  give  over  either  for  glory  or  for 
infamy." 

Several  of  the  letters  next  succeeding  relate  to 
his  journey  to  Heidelberg,  where  the  monks  of  his 
order  were  to  meet  in  convention.  The  story  of 
the  incidents  connected  with  that  occasion  is  best 
told  by  himself.  From  Coburg,  nearly  two-thirds 
of  the  distance,  he  wrote  to  Spalatin,  April  15th: 
"From  Pfcffinger  I  suppose  you  have  learned  all 
that  wre  talked  about,  when  I  met  him  at  the  vil- 
lage of  Judenbach,  [a  few  miles  before  reaching 
Coburg.]  Among  other  things,  I  rejoiced  at  this, 
that  an  opportunity  was  given  unto  me  to  make 
that  rich  man  poorer  by  some  shillings.  For  he 
paid  not  only  for  my  dinner,  but  for  that  of  two 
other  companions.  And  now,  if  I  could,  I  would 
make  our  prince's  officer  here  at  Coburg  pay  for 
us.  But  if  he  is  not  willing,  still  we  shall  live  at 
the  elector's  cost.  .  .  .  All  things  go  well  with  us, 
except  that  I  sinned,  I  confess,  in  setting  out  on 
in v  journey  on  foot.  But  for  this  sin,  as  the  con- 
trition is  perfect,  and  a  full  penance  hath  been 
imposed  and  borne,  there  is  no  need  of  indulgence. 
1  was  very  much  wearied,  [the  distance  was  more 
than  one  hundred  and  forty  miles.]  and  could  not 

20* 


234  LIFE    OF    LUTHER.  [1518 

get  convej^ed,  and  so  there  was  abundance,  enough 
and  more  than  enough  of  contrition,  penance  and 
satisfaction.  I  was  unknown  to  all,  except  as  the 
presence  of  Pfeffinger  made  me  known.  But  at 
Weissenfels,  the  parish  priest,  though  a  stranger 
to  me,  knew  me  and  treated  me  with  great  kind- 
ness.    He  was  a  Wittenberg  master." 

His  next  letter  to  the  same  is  dated  Wurzburg, 
April  19.  "We  at  length  arrived  at  Wurzburg 
on  the  17th,  and,  on  the  evening  of  the  same  clay, 
presented  our  letters  to  the  illustrious  prince  [Bi- 
bra,  the  excellent  Bishop  of  Wurzburg.]  .  .  .  The 
reverend  bishop,  on  receiving  them,  called  for  me, 
communed  with  me,  and  desired  to  give  me,  at  his 
own  charges,  another  messenger  to  accompany  me 
all  the  way  to  Heidelberg.  But  as  I  found  here 
many  of  my  order,  and  especially  Lange,  the 
Erfurt  prior,  I  thanked  the  kind-hearted  prince, 
saving  it  was  not  necessary  to  provide  me  with 
a  messenger.  I  wished,  moreover,  to  ride  with 
them,  being  exhausted  with  fatigue.  Only  one 
thing  did  I  ask  of  him,  and  that  was  a  safe-con- 
duct, which  I  have  just  received.  ...  If  some- 
thing more  can  be  paid  to  my  messenger  Urban, 
I  think  he  deserveth  it ;  for  he  was  delayed  in  the 
journey  on  my  account.  I  would  bring  this  to  pass 
if  I  could  see  our  Hirsfelcl.  The  man  is  worthy 
of  it  for  his  fidelity  and  honesty.  Do  you  also 
plead  his  cause.  I  am  poor,  as  I  am  bound  to  be, 
and  therefore  could  give  him  but  little." 

On  his  return  to  Wittenberg,  he  gave  an  account 
of  the  remainder  of  his  journey,  to  Spalatin.  May 
18th :  "At  length,  by  the  favour  of  Christ,  I  have 


M.  34.]  COLLISION  WITH  TETZEL.  035 

returned  to  my  home,  dear  Spalatm,  and  arrived 
at  Wittenberg  the  Sabbath  after  Ascension-day. 
Though  I  went  on  foot,  I  returned  in  a  carriage. 
For  I  was  compelled  by  my  superiors  to  ride  with 
the  Niirembergers  toWurzburg;  thence  with  the 
Erfurt  brethren  to  that  place;  and  from  Erfurt 
with  the  brethren  from  Eisleben,  who,  at  their  own 
charges,  and  with  their  own  horses,  conveyed  me 
to  Wittenberg.  I  was  quite  well  all  the  way,  my 
food  agreeing  with  me  marvellously,  so  that  some 
think  I  have  grown  more  fat  and  corpulent. 

"  The  Count  Palatine  (at  Heidelberg)  and  Sim- 
ler,  and  Hase,  masters  of  the  palace,  received  me 
with  great  honour.  The  count  invited  us,  that 
is,  Staupitz,  Lange,  now  provincial  vicar,  and  my- 
self, to  his  palace,  where  we  rejoiced  and  were 
made  merry  in  each  other's  company,  eating  and 
drinking  and  seeing  all  the  adornments  and  wea- 
pons of  war  which  beautify  that  regal  and  truly 
noble  castle.  Simler  could  not  enough  extol  the 
letter  of  our  prince  given  for  me,  saying,  i  Those 
are  most  precious  credentials  which  you  have.' 
Indeed,  nothing  of  humanity  was  wanting. 

"  The  learned  doctors  willingly  suffered  my  dis- 
putation, and  disputed  with  me  so  courteously  as 
to  make  themselves  very  dear  to  me.  Although 
my  theology  seemed  strange  to  them,  they  argued 
against  it  honourably  and  acutely  ;  save  one  young 
doctor,  who  made  the  whole  audience  shout  with 
laughter  when  he  said,  '  If  the  peasantry  should 
hear  that,  they  would  stone  thee  to  death.' 

"To  the  Erfuri  doctors  my  theology  was  a  bit- 
ter pill,  especially  to  Jodocus  of  Eisenach.  ...  I 


036  LIFE   OF    LUTHER.  [1518. 

had  a  conference  with  him,  and  made  him  to  un- 
derstand at  least  as  much  as  this,  that  he  could 
never  establish  his  own  positions,  nor  confute 
mine.  .  .  .  With  Doctor  Usingen,  as  I  rode  with 
him,  I  laboured  more  than  with  all  the  rest,  in 
order  to  convince  him,  but  know  not  whether  it 
had  any  effect.  I  left  him  cogitating  and  won- 
dering." 

These  two  men,  it  will  be  recollected,  were  Lu- 
ther's principal  teachers  at  the  university.  In  a 
preAdous  letter  to  Lange,  he  sent  a  friendly  salu- 
tation not  only  to  father  Usingen,  but  to  father 
Nathin,  his  former  enemy,  and  the  chief  agent  in 
producing  the  misunderstanding  between  Luther 
and  the  University  of  Erfurt.  This  magnanimity 
and  love  of  brotherly  concord  are  noble  traits  in 
the  character  of  the  bold  and  stern  reformer. 

In  the  midst  of  all  these  cares  and  tumults, 
Luther  was  active  in  raising  the  literary  charac- 
ter of  the  university.  He  at  first  introduced  the 
study  of  the  Bible ;  next  he  endeavoured  to  ba- 
nish the  scholastic  philosophy.  Now  he  was 
active  in  introducing  the  study  of  Hebrew  and 
Greek,  and  promoting  the  Latin.  He  looked  out 
new  professors,  laid  new  plans  of  study  before 
the  elector  through  Spalatin,  and  counteracted 
the  parsimonious  views  of  Pfeffinger,  the  financial 
minister  of  state.  Leipsic,  espousing  warmly  the 
cause  of  Tetzel  and  of  the  pope,  was  more  than 
ever  the  jealous  rival  of  Wittenberg.  "Our  stu- 
dies," says  Luther,  March  21,  "are  advanced  so 
much  thai  we  expect  soon  to  have  lectures  in  both 
languages,  [Latin  and  lireek,]  or  rather  in  three, 


JE.  34.]  COLLISION   WITH    TETZEL.  237 

[by  adding  the  Hebrew,]  in  Pliny,  in  mathematics, 
in  Quintilian  and  some  others  of  the  best  sort, 
giving  up  the  puerile  lectures  on  Peter  of  Spain, 
T.-ii  laretus  [of  France]  and  Aristotle.  The  elector 
hath  already  signified  his  approval,  and  the  council 
have  the  subject  under  consideration." 

On  the  18th  of  May,  he  writes  to  Spalatin :  "  I 
hope  and  pray  you  will  not  be  unmindful  of  'our 
university,  that  is,  that  you  wrill  be  zealous  in 
establishing  a  Greek  and  a  Hebrew  professorship. 
I  suppose  you  have  seen  the  programme  of  lec- 
tures at  Leipsic,  our  rival  as  ever.  Many  are 
there  pompously  announced  which  I  do  not  be- 
lieve will  ever  be  delivered."  The  measures  here 
referred  to  led  first  to  a  negotiation  with  Mosel- 
lanus,  and  then,  that  failing,  to  the  appointment 
of  young  Melancthon,  as  professor  of  Greek. 

On  the  30th  of  May,  1518,  Luther  wrote  two 
letters  of  great  historical  value,  the  one  to  Stau- 
pitz,  the  other  to  Leo  X. ;  the  former  giving  an 
account  of  the  gradual  change  his  mind  under- 
went on  the  subject  of  indulgences;  the  other 
slating  the  rise,  character  and  progress  of  the 
outward  controversy.  In  the  letter  to  Staupitz, 
he  says:  "I  remember,  reverend  father,  that 
among  those  most  delightful  and  profitable  con- 
versations of  yours  wherewith  the  Lord  Jesus 
used  wonderfully  to  comfort  me,  mention  once 
happened  to  be  made  of  the  word  repentance.  Be- 
ing distressed  for  the  consciences  of  many,  hy 
reason  of  the  manner  wherein  those  murderers  of 
the  conscience  taught  the  duty  of  confession,  by 
countless  and  intolerable  precepts,  I  heard  from 


238  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1518. 

you,  as  if  by  a  voice  from  heaven,  the  declara- 
tion that  '  there  is  no  true  repentance,  save  that 
which  beginneth  with  the  love  of  righteousness 
and  of  God  ;  that  what  these  men  make  the  end 
and  completion  of  repentance,  is  rather  the  be- 
ginning thereof.'  Those  words  of  yours  stuck  to 
me  like  a  sharp  arrow  of  a  strong  archer.  I 
afterward  compared  them  with  those  passages 
of  Scripture  which  teach  repentance,  and  how 
sweetly  did  they  all  play  in  and  agree  with  this 
opinion  !  Formerly  there  was  in  all  the  Bible 
scarcely  a  word  more  bitter  to  me ;  now  none 
sounds  more  sweetly  or  agreeably  to  my  ears 
than  the  word  repentance.  At  a  later  time,  I 
learned,  by  the  help  of  those  scholars  who  made 
us  acquainted  with  Greek  and  Hebrew,  that  the 
Greek  word  for  repentance  signified  '  thinking  of 
a  fault  after  it  was  done,'  .  .  .  and,  as  I  proceeded 
farther  in  the  knowledge  of  the  Greek  tongue,  I 
perceived  that  it  also  signified  'a  change  of  mind.' 
.  .  .  Being  confirmed  in  these  opinions,  I  made 
bold  to  consider  those  as  false  teachers  who  im- 
puted so  much  of  repentance  to  [outward]  works, 
making  it  of  little  account  beyond  certain  satis- 
factions and  scrupulous  confessions.  .  .  .  When  my 
mind  was  kindling  into  a  blaze  with  these  medi- 
tations, behold,  all  of  a  sudden,  a  new  trumpet  of 
indulgences  and  of  pardons  was  sounded,  or  rather 
rung  with  a  loud  clangour  in  our  ears,  whereby 
we  were  not  summoned  to  war,  but  ....  these 
heralds  proclaimed,  with  great  pomp  and  in  a  man- 
ner unheard  of  before,  not  repentance,  nor  even 
the   weakest  part  thereof,  satisfactions,  but  the 


JE.  34.]  COLLISION   WITH    TETZEL.  239 

remission  of  this  weakest  part.  Moreover  did 
they  teach  ungodly,  false  and  heretical  doctrines 
with  such  authority,  (I  should  say,  audacity,)  that 
if  any  one  muttered  a  word  against  it,  he  was 
straightway  a  heretic,  devoted  to  the  flames,  and 
worthy  of  eternal  malediction.  Not  able  to  sus- 
tain their  fury,  I  determined  to  dissent  from  them 
modestly,  and  to  call  into  doubt  their  opinions, 
standing  upon  the  doctrine  of  all  the  teachers  of 
the  whole  church,  viz.  that  it  is  better  that  the 
satisfactions  be  performed  than  that  they  be  re- 
mitted, that  is,  released  by  indulgence.  Nor  did 
any  one  ever  teach  otherwise.  Thus  I  took  up 
the  disputation,  that  is,  stirred  up  against  my  un- 
lucky head  every  thing,  top,  bottom  and  midst,  so 
far  as  it  was  in  the  power  of  these  persons,  who 
are  so  zealous  for  money,  or,  as  they  wTill  have  it, 
for  souls.  These  gentle  creatures,  resorting  to 
base  sleights,  inasmuch  as  they  could  not  dispute 
what  I  had  said,  set  up  the  pretence  that  the 
power  of  the  pope  was  impugned  in  my  disputa- 
tions. This,  reverend  father,  is  the  cause  of  my 
now  coming  unhappily  before  the  people.  I  always 
wished  rather  to  be  in  a  corner,  and  would  now 
much  sooner  look  at  the  august  spectacle  of  the 
great  men  of  our  age  than  become  myself  an  ob- 
ject of  the  public  gaze.  But  I  see  it  is  needful 
for  the  chick-weed  to  be  with  the  pot-herbs,  and 
the  dark  colour  with  the  light,  to  set  off  the 
charm  by  contraries.  I  pray  you,  therefore,  re- 
ceive these  trifles  of  mine,  and  send  them  forward 
as  speedily  as  may  be  to  Leo  X.,  thai  they  may 
appear  there  as  my  defence  against  my  malignani 


240  LIFE    OF   LUTHER.  [1518. 

foes.  Not  that  I  wish  to  draw  you  into  my  perils. 
I  desire  that  the  perils  be  mine  alone.  Christ  will 
know  whether  these  things  which  I  have  said  are 
his  or  mine.  ...  As  to  those  threats,  I  have  no- 
thing to  reply  to  my  friends  but  the  words  of 
Reuchlin,  t  He  that  is  poor  hath  nothing  to  fear, 
for  he  hath  nothing  to  lose.'  I  have  nothing,  and 
I  desire  nothing.  If  I  enjoyed  any  good  name  or 
honour,  this  they  are  now  fast  destroying.  But 
one  thing  remains,  that  is,  my  frail  body,  already 
weak  and  decayed  by  constant  sufferings.  If,  by 
the  will  of  God,  they  should  destroy  this  by  vio- 
lence or  fraud,  why,  they  will  only  make  me 
poorer  by  a  few  hours  of  my  life.  Enough  for 
me  is  my  sweet  Redeemer  and  Saviour,  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  and  his  praises  will  I  sing  as  long  as 
I  live.  If  any  one  will  not  sing  with  me,  what 
is  that  to  me  ?  Let  him  bark,  if  he  please,  by 
himself.  The  Lord  Jesus  Christ  preserve  you 
evermore,  my  dearest  father." 

The  letter  addressed  to  Leo,  at  the  same  time 
with  the  above,  accompanying  the  Proofs  and  Ex- 
planations of  the  Theses,  is  important  as  deter- 
mining Luther's  views  of  the  papacy  and  of  Leo 
at  this  period,  views  which  he  soon  had  occa- 
sion to  change.  " I  have  heard,"  says  he,  "the 
worst  account,  most  blessed  father,  touching  my- 
self, namely,  that  certain  friends  have  made  1113^ 
name  most  odious  to  you  and  yours,  as  of  one 
who  was  labouring  to  diminish  the  authority  and 
power  of  the  keys  and  of  the  supreme  pontiff; 
and  that  I  am  called  a  heretic,  an  apostate,  a 
traitor,  and  a  thousand  other  ignominious  names. 


M.  34.]  COLLISION  WITH   TETZEL.  241 

These  things  shock  and  amaze  me;  one  thing 
only  sustains  me,  a  sense  of  innocence.  But  this 
is  nothing  new.  Even  here  in  my  own  country 
I  am  honoured  with  such  tokens  by  these  men 
of  honour  and  truth,  I  mean  these  conscience- 
smitten  men,  who  strive  to  heap  their  monstrous 
crimes  upon  me,  and,  by  my  ignominy,  to  cover 
i heir  own.  But,  most  blessed  father,  condescend 
to  hear  the  whole  matter  from  me,  a  child  and 
rude  though  I  be.  The  jubilee  of  apostolic  in- 
dulgences began  to  be  proclaimed  here  not  long 
ago,  and  was  carried  on  in  such  a  sort,  that  the 
preachers  thereof,  employing  the  terror  of  your 
name,  thought  there  were  no  bounds  to  their 
license,  and  presumed  to  teach  openly  things  the 
most  blasphemous  and  heretical,  to  the  great 
scandal  and  contempt  of  ecclesiastical  authority, 
as  if  the  decretals  touching  the  abuses  practised 
by  preachers  of  indulgences  had  nothing  to  do 
with  them.  Not  satisfied  with  scattering  their 
poison  by  their  licentious  tongues,  they  published 
tracts  and  dispersed  them  among  the  people,  in 
which,  to  say  nothing  of  the  insatiable  and  unex- 
ampled avarice  flowing  forth  at  every  letter  and 
point,  they  repeated  those  blasphemous  and  here- 
tical declarations,  and  bound  the  confessors  with 
an  oath  to  enjoin  the  same  most  faithfully  and 
earnestly  upon  the  people.  1  speak  nothing  but 
the  pure  truth,  which  cannot  he  concealed  from 
the  light.  The  books  themselves  are  extant,  and 
they  cannot  deny  these  things.  They  have  car- 
ried  on   their  business    with   great     effect,    and 

with   their  false  promises  they  have  drained  the 

21 


242  LIFE    OF    LUTHER.  [1518. 

purses  of  the  people,  and,  as  the  prophet  saith, 
'  plucked  the  flesh  from  their  bones,'  themselves 
the  meanwhile  faring  most  sumptuously. 

"  To  stay  the  public  scandal,  they  have  re- 
sorted to  the  terror  of  your  name,  to  the  menace 
of  the  flames,  and  to  the  ignominy  of  heresy.  It 
is  incredible  how  bent  they  are  on  using  these 
weapons,  wheresoever  their  opinions,  even  in 
the  very  least  matters,  are  called  in  question. 
This,  however,  is  not  so  much  quenching  public 
scandal  as  it  is  stirring  up  schisms  and  seditions 
by  deeds  of  tyranny.  At  the  same  time,  tales 
concerning  the  avarice  of  the  priests,  and  detrac- 
tion in  respect  of  the  power  of  the  keys  and  of 
the  supreme  pontiff,  were  going  from  mouth  to 
mouth  in  the  taverns,  as  the  voice  of  the  whole 
land  giveth  witness.  I  burned,  I  confess,  with 
zeal  for  Christ,  as  it  seemed  to  me,  or  with  youth- 
ful heat,  if  any  one  please;  but  perceived  that 
it  did  not  belong  to  me  to  do  or  decide  any  thing 
in  this  matter.  Accordingly,  I  admonished  pri- 
vately a  few  of  the  dignitaries  of  our  church. 
Some  received  what  I  said,  some  did  ridicule ; 
some  one  thing,  and  some  another ;  for  they  were 
terrified  by  the  use  made  of  your  name,  and  by 
the  threat  of  the  Inquisition.  At  length,  when  I 
saw  I  could  do  nothing  else,  I  thought  it  best  to 
arraign  them  gently,  that  is,  to  make  their  dogmas 
a  matter  of  doubt  and  of  debate.  Therefore,  did 
I  publish  a  disputation,  inviting  only  the  learned 
to  discuss  the  subject  with  me,  if  they  chose. 
This  my  enemies  may  know,  as  it  standeth  in  the 
prefatory  words  at  the  head  of  the  propositions. 


JE.M.]  COLLISION  WITH   TETZEL.  243 

"Behold,  this  is  the  conflagration  whereof  the 

■whole  world  complain,  indignant,  perhaps,  that  I, 
a  master  of  theology  by  your  authority,  should, 
after  the  custom  of  all  the  universities  and  of  the 
whole  church,  have  the  right  to  dispute  in  a  pub- 
lic school,  not  only  on  indulgences,  but  ....  on 
incomparably  greater  things By  what  un- 
lucky chance  it  is,  that  these  particular  proposi- 
tions of  mine,  more  than  all  others,  either  of  my 
own  or  of  any  teacher,  should  go  forth  into  nearly 
all  the  earth,  I  am  at  a  loss  to  know.  They  wTere 
set  forth  here  for  our  use  alone,  and  how  they 
should  come  to  everybody's  knowledge  is  incredi- 
ble to  me.  They  are  not  doctrines  or  dogmas, 
but  matters  of  debate,  stated,  according  to  cus- 
tom, obscurely  and  enigmatically.  Could  I  have 
foreseen  the  result,  I  would  assuredly  have  taken 
care  to  make  them  more  plain  and  clear.  But 
what  shall  I. do?  Recall  them  I  cannot;  and 
yet  I  see  that  their  notoriety  bringeth  upon  me 
great  odium.  ...  In  order,  then,  to  soften  my 
adversaries,  and  to  gratify  many  friends,  I  send 
forth  these  trifles,  [Proofs,  &c]  to  explain  my 
theses.  For  the  greater  safety,  I  let  them  go 
forth,  most  blessed  father,  under  your  name,  and 
under  the  shadow  of  your  protection.  Here,  all 
who  will  may  see  howr  sincerely  I  honour  the 
ecclesiastical  power  and  reverence  the  keys  ;  and 
also  how  basely  I  am  reproached  and  belied  by 
my  enemies.  If  I  were  such  as  the}r  would  make 
me  to  be,  if  those  things  were  not  all  proposed 
for  the  sake  of  debate,  it  would  be  impossible 
that  the  illustrious  elector  should   allow   such    a 


244  LIFE   OF  LUTHER.  [1518 

pestilent  thing  in  his  university, — being,  as  he 
is,  a  vehement  lover  of  the  catholic  and  apostoli- 
cal doctrine, — or  that  I  should  be  borne  with, 
by  the  acute  and  zealous  teachers  in  our  univer- 
sity. But  I  speak  to  no  purpose ;  for  these  gentle 
spirits  do  not  stick  at  covering  with  the  like  in- 
famy the  elector  and  the  university.  Wherefore, 
most  blessed  father,  I  cast  myself,  with  all  I  am 
and  have,  prostrate  at  your  feet.  Save  or  slay, 
call  or  recall,  approve  or  disapprove,  as  it  shall 
best  please  you ;  I  will  acknowledge  your  voice 
as  the  voice  of  Christ  presiding  and  speaking  in 
you.  If  I  am  worthy  of  death,  I  refuse  not  to 
die ;  for  the  earth  is  the  Lord's,  and  the  fulness 
thereof;  blessed  be  his  name,  and  may  he  keep 
you  evermore.     Amen." 

A  course  of  events  was  rapidly  hastening  on 
which  was  destined  to  shake  Luther's  confidence, 
both  in  the  bishop  and  in  the  church  of  Rome. 
Eck  had  circulated  extensively,  though  privately, 
his  manuscript  comments,  or  "  Obelisks,"  on  Lu- 
ther's theses.  The  latter  sent  his  "Asterisks," 
also  privately,  as  a  reply.  Carlstadt,  in  the  mean 
time,  made  a  public  answer.  Eck  professed  to  re- 
gret the  course  things  were  taking,  and  Scheurl, 
a  friend  of  both,  undertook  to  mediate  between 
him  and  Luther.  The  following  is  Luther's  re- 
ply :  "  What  you  desire  in  behalf  of  our  Eck,  my 
dearest  Christopher,  would  not  have  needed  the 
mediation  of  such  a  friend,  if  the  matter  were  still 
open,  and  he  had  been  beforehand  with  you  in 
writing  of  his  letters.  My  suspicion  that  Eck's 
heart   was   turned   away  from    me,   is    much  in- 


M.  34.]  COLLISION  WITH    TETZEL.  245 

creased  for  the  reason,  that,  after  all  the  oppro- 
brious words  heaped  upon  me  by  him,  though 
privately,  he  never  communicated  with  me  on  the 
subject,  either  in  writing  or  by  word  of  mouth. 
Now.  as  Carlstadt's  Positions  are  already  pub- 
lished, though  without  my  consent  or  knowledge, 
I  know  not  what  can  be  done  by  either  of  them. 
Sure  I  am,  that  I  hold  the  man's  good  parts  in 
groat  esteem,  and  his  learning  in  admiration;  and 
what  lias  taken  place,  I  testify  to  you,  moves  me 
to  grief,  rather  than  to  anger.  On  my  part,  I 
have  written  him  the  kind  and  friendly  letter 
which  you  will  herewith  receive  and  can  read. 
Not  only  for  your  sake  am  I  reconciled,  but  on 
account  of  the  confession  made  by  him,  though 
not  to  me,  that  his  notes  have  been  sent  forth 
by  the  fraud  or  malice  of  others.  Therefore, 
both  you  and  he  have  me  in  your  power  in  this 
mat  tor.  Only  see  that  he  do  not  answer  our 
Carlstadt  too  sharply.  Let  him  remember  that 
it  was  his  fault  that  these  evils  should  spring  up 
among  friends.  As  my  Asterisks  were  given  out 
only  privately,  there  is  no  need  of  his  answering 
them  if  he  do  not  choose.  But  if  he  desires  to 
rejoin.  I  stand  ready  for  either  event,  though  I 
should  choose  peace." 

Before  advancing  to  the  correspondence  relating 
to  Luther's  citation  to  appear  for  trial  at  Rome, 
ami  his  actual  appearance  at  Augsburg  for  that 
purpose,  it  will  be  convenient  to  advert  to  some 
other  particulars  connected  with  his  present  situa- 
tion and  occupations,  equally  illustrative  of  his  cha- 
racter and  of  his  feelings  at  the  present  juncture. 

21* 


24G  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1518. 

June  4,  he  wrote  to  Spalatin:  "I  pray  you,  rny 
dear  Spalatin,  to  take  it  patiently  that  I  am  so 
slack  and  negligent  in  writing  to  you.  I  am  not 
able  to  perforin  half  the  business  which  is  unex- 
pectedly and  fast  increasing  upon  my  hands. 
Peter  Mosellanus  was  here  not  long  ago,  and  is 
content  to  accept  the  conditions  and  begin  his  du- 
ties [at  Wittenberg]  as  professor  of  Greek;  and 
he  desired  me  to  write  unto  you  to  that  effect. 
I  promised  to  write,  which  I  now  do,  not  knowing 
whether  there  had  been  any  negotiating  between 
you.  It  will  remain  for  you  to  do  in  this  matter 
as  God  shall  give  you  knowledge  and  ability.  .  .  . 
John  Tetzel  has  written  against  my  German  dis- 
course a  treatise  in  German,  a  singular  witness  and 
herald  of  his  ignorance.  I  will  hold  the  light  to 
it,  so  that  all  may  see  what  it  is." 

For  reasons  not  known,  the  negotiations  with 
Mosellanus  were  broken  off,  and  Reuchlin  was 
consulted,  who  recommended  Melancthon  as  pro- 
fessor of  Greek;  and  in  August  he  was  on  the 
ground,  thenceforward  the  second  great  pillar  of 
the  Reformation. 

June  29,  he  writes  again  to  the  same:  "I  am 
not  angry,  most  excellent  Spalatin,  that  those  men 
say  the  worst  things  of  me,  or  that  they  give  out 
that  the  Proofs  and  Conclusions  owe  their  origin 
to  the  elector.  I  only  fear  that  this  will  be  the 
occasion  of  stirring  up  enmity  between  such 
princes,  especially,  if  the  Elector  of  Brandenburg 
should  alloAV,  by  way  of  requital,  any  thing  to 
take  place  like  unto  what  we  lately  heard  of  him. 

"You  ask  me,  how  far  I  think  dialectics  useful 


.!•;.  34.]  COLLISION   WITH   TETZEL.  2il 

to  a  theologian.  I  see  not  how  they  can  be  other- 
wise but  hurtful.  In  the  training  and  exercising 
the  minds  of  the  young,  they  may  have  their  use ; 
but  in  sacred  learning,  where  faith  and  heavenly 
illumination  alone  are  sought  after,  they  ought  to 
be  left  behind,  as  Abraham,  about  to  offer  sacrifice, 
left  the  servants  and  asses  behind." 

To  his  most  intimate  friend,  Link,  now  in  Nu- 
remberg, who,  together  with  Scheurl,  kept  Luther 
informed  of  all  that  was  going  on  in  the  south  of 
Germany  for  or  against  the  Reformation,  Luther 
writes,  July  10:  "I  should  have  sent  you,  reve- 
rend father,*  the  Proofs  of  my  Theses,  but  for  the 
slackness  of  our  printer,  who  himself  feels  ashamed 
of  it.  Eighteen  of  the  conclusions  [about  one- 
third  of  the  book]  were  already  printed,  which  I 
have  endeavoured  to  have  sent  to  you  immediate- 
ly. ..  .  Our  vicar,  John  Lange,  [chosen  at  the 
late  meeting  at  Heidelberg,]  who  is  here  to-day, 
saith,  he  hath  been  warned  by  a  letter  from  Count 
Albert  of  Mansfeld,  to  suffer  me  by  no  means  to 
go  from  Wittenberg  [to  Augsburg,]  because  sonic 
nameless  persons  of  power  are  lying  in  wait  to 
han-  me  or  drown  me.  I  am  plainly  that  man  of 
contention  and  discord  mentioned  in  Jeremiah,  and 
do  daily  vex  the  Pharisees  witli  now  doctrines,  as 
they  are  called,  though  1  am  conscious  of  teaching 
nothing  but  the  purest  theology.  I  have  all  along 
known  that  I  should  present  an  offence  to  the 
sanctimonious  Jews,  and  folly  to  the  most  wise 
Greeks.     But  I  hope  that  I  am  a  debtor  to  Jesus 


:;  Title  as  monk  and  theologian. 


248  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1518. 

Christ,  who  saith  to  me  also,  I  will  show  him  how 
great  things  he  must  suffer  for  my  name's  sake. 
For,  if  he  doth  not  say  this,  why  hath  he  made 
me  invincible  in  the  ministry  of  this  word  ?  Why 
hath  he  not  taught  otherwise  than  I  preach  ?  Such 
was  his  holy  will.  The  more  men  are  enraged, 
the  more  confidence  will  I  have.  My  wife  and 
children  are  provided  for,  [he  was  then  unmarried.] 
My  lands,  houses,  and  goods  are  all  set  in  order, 
[he  was  still  a  monk,  and  owned  nothing.]  My 
reputation  and  name  are  already  torn  and  man- 
gled, and  only  a  frail  body  remaineth.  .  .  I  know 
that  the  word  of  Christ  from  the  beginning  of  the 
world  hath  been  of  such  a  sort,  that  he  who  would 
maintain  it  must,  with  the  apostles,  forsake  and 
renounce  all  things,  and  stand  in  waiting  for  death 
every  hour.  If  it  were  not  so,  it  would  not  be 
the  word  of  Christ.  It  was  purchased  with  death ; 
it  was  promulgated  with  death ;  it  hath  been  main- 
tained with  death,  and  must  be  hereafter.  Thus, 
our  enlisting  was  to  us  an  enlisting  to  blood.  Pray 
that  the  Lord  Jesus  may  increase  and  preserve 
this  spirit  in  his  faithful  poor  sinner." 

"I  have  lately  preached  before  the  people  on 
the  power  of  excommunication,  wherein  I  have 
taken  occasion  to  chastise  the  tyranny  and  igno- 
rance of  that  most  sordid  horde  of  officials,  com- 
missaries and  vicars.  All  cry  out  with  wonder 
that  they  never  heard  such-like  things.  We  are 
all  aware  what  ills  this  will  bring  upon  me ;  a 
new  fire  will  be  kindled.  But  so  the  word  of 
truth  is  made  a  sign  everywhere  spoken  against. 
I  had  desired  to  debate  these  matters  in  a  public 


^E.  34.]  COLLISION  WITH   TETZEL.  249 

disputation,  but  behold  public  rumour  prevented, 
and  stirred  up  so  many  of  the  great,  that  my 
Brandenburg  bishop  desired,  through  a  noted 
messenger,  that  I  would  put  off  the  disputation; 
which  I  have  done,  especially  as  my  friends  also 
advised  it.  Behold  what  a  monster  I  am,  whose 
every  endeavour  is  intolerable  !  Doctor  Jodocus 
of  Eisenach  hath  sent  me  a  letter,  running  over 
with  the  greatest  zeal,  (for  so  must  I  mention  with 
honour  the  most  impassioned  passion  of  this  man,) 
far  more  bitter  than  that  which  you  heard  read 
before  the  chapter.  He  said  the  same  things 
openly  to  me  in  Erfurt.  It  excruciates  even  to 
madness  these  men  that  they  must  become  fools 
in  Christ;  that  our  most  eminent  masters  in  all 
the  world  must  be  considered  as  having  erred  for 
so  long  a  time." 

On  the  7th  of  August,  1518,  Luther  received  a 
formal  citation  to  appear  within  sixty  days  at 
Rome  for  trial.  Prierias,  his  opponent  and  bitter 
enemy,  wras  appointed  one  of  the  judges  by  whom 
he  was  to  be  tried.  All  Luther's  friends  readily 
perceived  that  this  was  but  a  Romish  trick  to  se- 
cure his  destruction.  At  that  time  the  German 
diet  was  in  session  at  Augsburg ;  the  one  at 
which  Ulrich  von  Iluttcn  published  his  attack 
upon  Rome;  the  last  which  the  Emperor  Maxi- 
milian ever  attended.  The  Elector  Frederic,  with 
his  secretary  and  counsellors,  was  there. 

On  the  following  day,  August  8th,  Luther  wrote 
thus  to  Spalatin :  "  Now,  my  dear  Spalatin,  I 
greatly  need  your  succour;  or,  rather,  the  honour 
of  almost   the  entire  university  requireth  it  with 


250  LIFE   OF  LUTHER.  [1518. 

me.  What  is  wanted  is,  that  you  should  use 
your  power  with  the  illustrious  prince  (the  elector) 
and  Pfeffinger,  that  he,  the  prince,  and  his  ma- 
jesty the  emperor,  procure  a  release  for  me,  or 
permission  to  have  my  cause  tried  in  Germany, 
as  I  have  written  to  the  elector.  For  I  see  how 
craftily  and  maliciously  those  murderous  preach- 
ers are  plotting  my  destruction.  I  would  fain 
have  written  to  Pfeffinger  that  he  might,  by  his 
good  offices  and  those  of  his  friends,  seek  the 
same  favour  for  me  from  the  emperor  and  the 
elector.  But  this  must  be  done  without  delay, 
for  only  a  short  time  is  allowed  me,  as  you  will 
see  in  this  monster  of  a  summons.  Read  it,  with 
its  hydra  heads  and  portents.  If  you  love  me 
and  hate  iniquity,  obtain  the  counsel  and  succour 
of  the  elector  as  speedily  as  possible ;  and,  when 
you  have  done  so,  signify  it  to  me,  or  rather  to  our 
reverend  father  Staupitz,  who  is  either  already  with 
you  at  Augsburg,  or  will  be  there  soon.  ...  I  beg 
you  not  to  be  anxious  or  cast  down  on  my  account. 
The  Lord  will,  with  the  temptation,  make  a  way 
of  escape.  To  the  dialogue  of  Silvester  [Prie- 
rias,]  which  is  indeed  silvan  and  rustic,  I  am  now 
making  a  reply.  You  shall  have  it  entire  as  soon 
as  it  is  ready.  This  same  sweet  creature,  my  ad- 
versary, is  also  to  be  my  judge,  as  you  will  see  in 
the  summons." 

On  the  20th,  he  writes  again :  "  The  messen- 
ger whom  I  sent  to  our  illustrious  Prince  Frederic 
hath  not  yet  returned.  I  am,  therefore,  still  wait- 
ing to  learn  what  the  Lord  intended!  through  you 
to  do  in  my  case.     I  have  heard  that  the  reverend 


JE.  31.]  COLLISION   WITH    TETZEL.  251 

Cardinal  Cajetan  is  specially  charged  by  the  pope 
to  use  his  endeavours  to  imbitter  the  emperor  and 
the  elector  against  me.  [Happily  the  effort  did 
not  succeed.]  So  timid  is  the  conscience  of  great 
pontiffs;  or  rather  such  is  the  insufferable  power 
of  truth  over  deeds  done  in  darkness.  And  yet 
I,  as  you  know,  my  dear  Spalatin,  have  no  fear  in 
all  these  things.  Even  if  their  flatteries  or  their 
authority  should  have  the  effect  to  render  me  odious 
unto  all,  I  have  this  left  in  my  heart  and  conscience, 
that  I  know  and  confess  that  whatsoever  I  hold  and 
they  impugn,  I  have  from  God,  to  whom  I  cheer- 
fully refer  all  and  offer  all.  If  he  take  them 
away,  let  them  be  taken  away;  if  he  preserve 
them,  let  them  be  preserved ;  and  let  his  name  be 
hallowed  and  blessed  for  ever :  Amen.  I  do  not 
yet  well  see  how  I  can  escape  that  ecclesiastical 
censure  which  is  purposed,  unless  the  prince  shall 
come  to  my  aid.  And,  on  the  other  hand,  I  would 
much  rather  be  under  perpetual  censure,  than 
have  the  prince  suffer  in  his  good  name  on  my 
account.  As  I  have  before  offered  myself,  so  be- 
lieve and  be  assured  I  still  hold  myself  ready  for 
any  thing  you  should  wish,  or  think  best.  A 
heretic  I  never  will  be ;  err  I  may  in  disputation. 
But  I  wish  to  decide  no  doctrine ;  only,  1  am  not 
willing  to  be  the  slave  of  the  opinions  of  men.  It 
seemeth  best  to  our  learned  and  prudent  friends' 
here  that  I  should  ask  our  prince,  Frederic,  for  a 
safe-conduct  through  his  dominions,  and  that  he 
should  refuse  it,  as  I  know  he  would,  and  that  this 
should  be  urged  as  nry  reason  and  excuse  for  my 
not  appearing  in  Rome." 


050  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1518. 

It  was  in  the  very  midst  of  these  transactions, 
and  before  any  thing  was  agreed  upon  between 
the  elector,  the  emperor,  the  cardinal  and  the 
pojDe,  in  respect  to  Luther's  trial,  that  the  latter 
was  cheered  by  the  accession  of  a  brilliant  young 
man  to  the  university  and  to  the  circle  of  his  par- 
ticular friends;  who,  from  that  time,  enjoyed  his 
confidence  and  supported  him  in  his  great  work 
more  than  any  other  individual.  Nothing  could 
have  been  more  advantageous  or  more  opportune 
than  this  event.  At  the  time  when  the  timidity 
of  Staupitz  was  beginning  to  cause  him  to  with- 
draw from  Luther,  and  when  the  mature  and 
learned  Carlstadt  began  to  betray  a  want  of  tact 
in  the  management  of  affairs,  Melancthon  was 
sent  by  Providence,  with  his  winning  and  amiable 
character;  with  his  varied,  elegant  and  profound 
learning ;  with  his  clear,  philosophic  views,  his 
sincere  piety  and  warm  friendship,  to  take  his 
stand  b}r  the  side  of  Luther,  and  join  him  as  his 
truest  and  ablest  associate  in  fighting  out  the 
battle  of  truth. 

When  the  negotiations  with  Mosellanus,  in  re- 
spect to  the  Greek  professorship,  were  broken  off, 
in  July,  1518,  the  elector  applied  to  Reuchlin, 
then  residing  at  Stuttgarcl,  to  recommend  two 
professors,  one  for  the  Greek  and  one  for  the  He- 
brew language.  Reuchlin  recommended  Melanc- 
thon  for  the  former,  and  (Ecolampadius  for  the 
latter.  Melancthon  was  at  that  time  twenty-one 
years  of  age,  and  was  temporarily  occupying  the 
chair  of  rhetoric  at  the  University  of  Tubingen, 
but  a  few  miles  from  Rcuchlin's  house.     Being 


*f  l>  ^"i^ff^A      M  r  ^  *.vf*\?) 


M.  31.]  COLLISION   WITH    TETZEL.  253 

the  grandson  of  Rcuchlin's  sister,  the  young  Me- 
lancthon  had  been  carefully  educated  under  his 
direction.     lie  distinguished  himself  by  his  rapid 
acquisitions  in  the  Latin  school  of  Simler  at  Pforz- 
heim.    At  Heidelberg,  where  he  entered  the  uni- 
versity at  the   age   of  twelve,   he    acquired  the 
reputation  of  being  the  best  Greek  scholar.     At 
Tubingen,  to  which,  at  the  end  of  twro  years  after 
having  taken  his  first  degree,  he   resorted,  and 
where  he  spent  six  years  in  laborious  study,  he 
made  such  extensive  and  various  acquisitions  in 
learning    as    to    stand    prominent   above    all   the 
youths  of  the  university.     Destined,  as  he  was, 
to  be   the   "preceptor  of  Germany,"  it  was  well 
that  his   range  of  study  at  Tubingen  was  very 
wide.     Proceeding  from  the  Latin  and  Greek,  as 
from  a  common  centre,  he  extended  his  studies  to 
history,  rhetoric,  logic,  mathematics,  philosophy, 
theology,  law,  and   even  to  the  leading  medical 
writers,  and  attended  lectures  on  all  these  sub- 
jects.    He  not  only  warmly  espoused  the  cause 
of  Reuchlin,  as  the  representative  of  Greek  and 
Hebrew  literature,  and  its  persecuted  but  victo- 
rious   defender    against    the   ignorant  Dominican 
monks  of  Cologne,  but  he  made  himself  familiar, 
even  from  boyhood,  with  the  New  Testament  in 
the  original — a  copy  of  which,  received  as  a  pre- 
sent from  Reuchlin,  he  always  carried  about  his 
person.     Reuchlin,  in  his  reply  to  the  elector,  said 
he  knew  of  no  German   who    was  Melancthon's 
superior,  except   it  be    Erasmus   of    Rotterdam. 
July  24,  1518,  Reuchlin  wrote  to  his  young  kins- 
man :  "  I  have  received  a  letter  from  the  elector, 

22 


254  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1518. 

offering  you  a  place  and  a  salary;  and  I  will  apply 
to  you  the  promise  of  God  made  to  Abraham: 
'Get  thee  out  of  thy  country,  &c.;  and  I  will 
make  thee  a  great  nation ;  and  I  will  bless  thee, 
and  make  thee  a  great  name,  and  thou  shalt  be 
blessed.'  So  I  prophesy  of  thee,  my  dear  Philip, 
who  art  my  care  and  my  comfort." 

Pie  went  by  way  of  Augsburg,  in  order  to  see 
the  elector  there  before  he  should  leave  the  diet, 
then  in  session.  On  leaving  Augsburg,  Melanc- 
thon  proceeded  to  Nuremberg,  where  he  made  the 
acquaintance  of  Pirkheimer  and  Scheurl,  and  then 
pursued  his  way  to  Leipsic,  where  he  saw  the 
young  Greek  professor  Mosellanus,  and  on  the 
25th  of  August,  1518,  reached  Wittenberg.  Lu- 
ther's joy,  on  learning  what  an  acquisition  was 
made  to  Wittenberg  in  this  remarkable  young 
man,  was  great;  and  never  had  he  occasion  to 
abate  his  admiration.  In  the  very  next  letter 
after  the  one  last  quoted  from  him,  under  date  of 
August  31,  he  writes  to  Spalatin,  still  in  Augs- 
burg with  the  elector:  "As  touching  our  Philip 
Melancthon,  be  assured  all  is  done,  or  shall  be, 
which  you  desire  in  your  letter.  He  pronounced 
an  [inaugural]  oration  on  the  fourth  day  after  his 
arrival  here,  [in  which  he  set  forth  the  new 
method  of  study  in  contrast  with  the  old  scholas- 
tic method,]  full  of  learning  and  force,  meeting 
with  such  favour  and  admiration  in  all,  that  you 
may  now  leave  off  all  anxiety  in  commending  him 
unto  us.  We  soon  lost  the  feeling  produced  by 
his  [small]  stature  and  [his  weak  bodily]  frame; 
and  now  we  do  wonder  and  rejoice  at  that  which 


M.  34.]  COLLISION   WITH   TETZEL.  255 

we  find  in  him,  and  thank  the  illustrious  prince 
and  yourself  for  what  you  have  done.  You  have 
need,  rather,  to  inquire  in  what  study  he  may 
render  himself  most  acceptable  to  our  prince. 
With  his  consent  and  approval,  I  would  choose 
that  Philip  be  made  Greek  professor.  I  only 
have  fears  that  his  feeble  health  will  not  abide 
the  severity  of  our  climate.  I  hear,  furthermore, 
that  he  receiveth  too  small  a  stipend,  so  that  the 
men  at  Leipsic  are  hoping  to  get  him  away  from 
us.  He  was  beset  by  them  on  his  way  to  this 
place." 

September  2,  he  writes  to  the  same,  informing 
him  that  the  students,  now  eagerly  pursuing  the 
new  studies,  and  hearing,  by  way  of  preference, 
lectures  on  the  Bible  and  the  ancient  languages, 
complain  that,  before  receiving  their  degrees,  they 
are  required  to  attend  useless  courses  of  lectures 
on  scholastic  theology.  Luther  and  his  friends 
desired  that  those  studies  be  made  optional,  and 
that  persons  be  admitted  to  the  degrees  in  theo- 
logy on  passing  a  regular  examination  on  the  new 
branches  of  study  introduced  by  him,  Melancthon 
and  others.  He  closes  by  saying,  "  I  commend 
unto  you  heartily  the  most  Attic,  the  most  erudite, 
the  most  elegant  Melancthon.  His  lecture-room 
is  full,  and  more  than  full.  lie  inflameth  all  our 
theologians,  highest,  lowest  and  midst,  with  a  love 
of  Greek." 

On  the  9th  of  the  same  month,  he  writes  to 
Lange:  "The  very  learned  and  most  Grecian 
Philip  Melancthon  is  professor  of  Greek  here,  a 
mere  boy  or  stripling  if  you  regard  his  age,  but 


256  LIFE   OF  LUTHER.  [1518. 

one  of  us  if  you  consider  the  abundance  of  his 
learning  and  his  knowledge  of  almost  all  books. 
He  is  not  only  skilled  in  both  languages,  [Latin 
and  Greek,  then  a  rare  thing,]  but  is  learned  in 
each.  Nor  is  he  wholly  ignorant  of  Hebrew." 
After  going  to  Augsburg,  whither  he  resorted  for 
reasons  soon  to  be  given,  he  wrote  to  Melancthon 
himself,  under  date  of  Oct.  11 :  "There  is  nothing- 
new  or  strange  here,  saving  that  the  whole  city  is 
filled  with  the  rumour  of  my  name,  and  everybody 
is  eager  to  see  the  new  Herostratus  that  has  kindled 
such  a  conflagration.  Concerning  yourself,  go  on 
in  your  manly  course,  as  you  have  begun.  Teach 
the  youth  right  things.  I  give  myself  up  to  be 
sacrificed  for  them  and  for  you,  if  it  be  the  will  of 
God.  I  will  sooner  perish,  and,  what  is  most 
grievous,  for  ever  lose  your  delightful  converse, 
than  recall  what  hath  been  rightly  said,  and  be- 
come the  occasion  of  extinguishing  good  learning. 
Italy  is  covered  with  Egyptian  darkness,  together 
with  those  sottish  and  yet  savage  enemies  of  let- 
ters and  of  study.  They  neither  know  Christ 
nor  the  things  of  Christ;  and  yet  they  are  our 
lords  and  masters  both  in  matters  of  faith  and  of 
morals." 

We  must  now  resume  our  narrative  in  respect 
to  Luther's  summons  and  trial.  So  far  was  Lu- 
ther from  being  terrified  at  the  threatening  aspect 
things  were  beginning  to  wear  at  Rome,  that  he 
published  a  bold  reply  to  Prierias.  At  the  close, 
he  says,  "Behold  the  answer  I  make  }'Ou,  hastily 
and  within  the  space  of  two  days,  because  what 


IE.  34.]  COLLISION   WITH    TETZEL.  257 

you  have  brought  forward  against  me  appeared  so 
trifling.  ...  If  you  wish  to  rejoin,  see  that  you 
bring  your  Thomas  upon  the  arena  a  little  better 
equipped;  otherwise  you  will  not  get  off  so  easy 
as  you  have  this  time.  I  have  put  myself  in 
check,  lest  I  should  render  evil  for  evil."  Such 
language  did  he  venture  to  hold  to  an  adversary 
now  his  judge!  The  nature  and  extent  of  his 
Christian  courage  are  well  portrayed  in  a  letter  to 
Staupitz,  Sept.  1.  "Do  not  doubt,"  he  writes, 
"my  reverend  father,  that  I  shall  maintain  my 
freedom  in  examining  and  expounding  the  Scrip- 
tures. Neither  the  summons  nor  the  threats 
given  out  shall  move  me.  I  suffer,  as  you  know, 
incomparably  worse  things,  [spiritual  conflicts,] 
which  make  me  regard  those  temporal  and  mo- 
mentary thunderings  as  trifles.  Still,  I  sincerely 
regard  ecclesiastical  authority.  ...  If  Silvester 
[Prierias,]  that  silvan  sophist,  shall  go  on,  and 
provoke  me  further  with  his  scribblings,  I  si  mil 
not  play  with  him  again,  but,  giving  loose  reins  to 
my  mind  and  pen,  will  show'  him  that  there  are  in 
Germany  men  who  understand  his  Roman  arts. 
...  I  see  that  attempts  are  made  at  Rome  that 
the  kingdom  of  truth,  i.  e.  of  Chris! .  lie  no  longer 
the  kingdom  of  truth.  They  continually  ply  their 
rage  to  hinder  truth  from  being  heard  and  enter- 
tained in  its  own  proper  kingdom.  But  I  desire 
to  belong  to  this  kingdom,  if  not  truly,  as  I 
should,  in  life,  truly  at  least  with  my  tongue  and 
heart,  renewed,  albeit,  and  making  true  confession. 
I  Learn  from  experience  that  the  people  are  sigh- 
ing for  the  voice  of  their  Shepherd,  Christ,  and 

22* 


258  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1518. 

the  youth  arc  burning  with  wonderful  zeal  for 
the  sacred  oracles.  A  beginning  is  made  with 
us  in  reading  of  Greek.  We  are  all  giving  our- 
selves to  the  Greek  for  the  better  understand- 
ing of  the  Bible.  We  are  expecting  a  Hebrew 
teacher,  and  the  elector  hath  the  business  in 
hand." 

Meanwhile  the  elector,  still  at  Augsburg,  was 
using  his  influence  with  the  emperor  and  with  the 
papal  legate,  that  Luther  might  receive  his  trial 
in  Germany.  Sept.  9,  Luther  writes  to  Lange : 
"  The  illustrious  prince  hath  written  unto  me,  that 
he  hath  persuaded  the  legate,  Cajetan,  to  write  to 
Rome,  asking  that  my  cause  may  be  tried  within 
the  country ;  and  that  I  must  wait  for  the  answer. 
I  have  hopes,  therefore,  that  the  ecclesiastical 
censure  will  be  withholden.  But  I  am  offensive 
to  many,  more,  most."  Nevertheless  the  cardinal, 
without  waiting  for  any  new  instructions  from 
Rome,  agreed  that  Luther  should  appear  before 
him  at  Augsburg,  at  the  close  of  the  diet.  Of 
the  character  and  conditions  of  that  trial,  how- 
ever, nothing  was  decided.  The  elector  and 
many  other  members  of  the  diet  had  left  the 
place  before  Luther's  arrival.  The  latter,  happy 
to  learn  that  he  was  released  from  the  obligation 
to  appear  at  Rome,  readily  complied  with  the  re- 
quest to  present  himself  before  the  papal  legate 
at  Augsburg.  He  set  out  on  foot,  availing  him- 
self of  the  hospitality  of  the  cloisters  that  lay  in 
his  route.  He  reached  Weimar,  Sept.  28,  and  on 
the  following  day,  which  was  a  great  festival,  he 
preached  in  the  chapel  attached  to  the  palace,  and 


M.  34.]  COLLISION   WITH   TETZEL.  259 

touched  upon  the  character  of  the  bishops,  who, 
instead  of  appearing  in  the  form  of  servants  of  the 
church,  acted  I  he  part  of  lords  and  tyrants.  The 
treasurer  of  the  monks  at  Weimar,  by  the  name 
of  John  Kestner,  approached  Luther,  and  ex- 
pressed great  solicitude  in  respect  to  the  result 
of  the  step  lie  was  about  to  take.  "Oh,  my  dear 
doctor,"  said  he,  "the  Italians  are  very  learned 
people.  I  fear  you  will  not  be  able  to  gain  your 
cause  with  them,  and  they  will  put  you  to  the 
flames."  Luther  replied,  "With  nettles  I  could 
bear;  but  with  fire  it  would  be  rather  too  hot. 
Dear  friend,  pray  to  our  Lord  God  in  heaven  with 
a  paternoster  for  me  and  for  his  dear  Son,  whose 
is  my  cause,  that  he  would  show  mercy.  If  he 
will  maintain  my  cause,  let  it  be  maintained ;  if 
he  has  not  a  mind  to  maintain  it,  then  I  will  not 
maintain  it;  I  will  let  him  see  to  that."  From 
this  place  he  was  sent  forward  by  the  elector, 
who  furnished  him  witli  many  important  letters  to 
those  who  were  to  be  his  counsellors  and  protec- 
tors at  Augsburg.  A  few  miles  before  reaching 
the  place,  he  was  so  exhausted  that  lie  was  obliged 
to  take  a  carriage.  He  had  also  borrowed  a  robe 
of  his  Nuremberg  friend  Link,  that  he  might  ap- 
pear the  more  respectably  before  the  great  men  at 
Augsburg. 

Three  days  after  his  arrival,  he  wrote  to  Spa- 
latin  :  "I  arrived,  my  dear  Spalatin,  at  Augsburg 
on  St.  Mark's  day,  Oct,  7.  We  were  very  much 
wearied;  I  especially  was  almost  consumed  by 
the  journey,  being  exhausted  from  a  disordered 
stomach.      But  I  have  recovered.      This  is  the 


2G0  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1518 

third  day  since  my  arrival,  and  I  have  not  yet 
seen  the  most  reverend  legate.  I  sent  to  him,  on 
the  first  day,  Doctor  Link  and  another  to  announce 
my  arrival.  In  the  mean  while,  my  good  friends 
here  have  been  diligent  in  procuring  for  me  a  safe- 
conduct  from  the  emperor  and  the  senate  [of 
Augsburg.]  By  the  authority  of  our  illustrious 
prince,  they  are  all  very  kind  unto  me  and  careful 
of  my  wants.  Although  the  reverend  cardinal 
legate  promiseth  to  use  all  lenity,  [he  had  made 
such  a  promise  to  the  elector,]  yet  my  friends  are 
not  willing  that  I  should  put  any  trust  in  him. 
They  take  upon  themselves  to  exercise  their  own 
prudence  and  diligence  in  this  matter.  For  they 
know  that,  whatsoever  he  pretendeth  outwardly, 
he  is  inwardly  very  bitter  against  me.  I  have 
had  the  same  thing  hinted,  in  no  obscure  manner, 
from  other  quarters.  To-day  I  shall  go  unto  him, 
and  seek  my  first  audience,  and  see  him  face  to 
face.  What  will  be  the  issue,  I  know  not.  Some 
think  it  a  good  omen  for  my  cause  that  the  Car- 
dinal Gurk  is  absent;  others,  that  the  emperor 
himself  is  absent,  though  the  latter  is  not  far 
away,  [engaged  in  the  chase,]  and  his  return  is 
daily  expected.  The  Bishop  of  Augsburg  is  also 
absent  from  the  city.  Yesterday  I  dined  with 
Dr.  Conrad  Peutinger,  and  a  better  citizen  and 
man  I  have  never  seen.  He  is  most  of  all  en- 
gaged in  my  interest,  and  other  senators  are 
scarcely  less  so.  Whether  the  reverend  legate  is 
afraid  of  me,  or  is  cherishing  a  monster,*  I  do  not 
know.     Yesterday  he  sent  unto  me  the  orator  of 

*   Secretly  favouring  a  bad  cause. 


M.  34.]  COLLISION  WITH   TETZEL.  2G1 

Montferrat,  who  told  me  not  to  visit  the  legate 
without  first  having  a  conference  witli  himself. 
It  is  thought  by  all,  that  he  came  by  the  legate's 
order.  With  many  words,  and,  as  he  saith,  'judi- 
cious counsels,'  he  endeavoured  to  persuade  me  to 
submit  forthwith  to  the  legate,  and  to  return  to 
the  church  by  recanting  my  hard  speeches,  at  the 
same  time  proposing  to  me  the  example  of  Joa- 
chim, Abbot  of  Florence,  who,  by  such  means, 
though  he  had  said  heretical  things,  escaped  from 
being  a  heretic.  Then  the  sweet  creature  wished 
me  to  abstain  from  giving  the  reasons  for  what  I 
had  said.  '  Dost  thou  wish  to  break  a  lance  ?' 
said  he.  To  be  short,  he  is  an  Italian,  and  will 
always  be  an  Italian.  .  .  .  He  wTent  on  to  make 
the  most  absurd  declarations,  and  acknowledged 
openly  that  it  was  right  to  preach  what  was  false 
for  the  sake  of  a  good  profit,  as  he  called  it,  and 
filling  the  purse.  .  .  .  But  I  dismissed  this  Sinon, 
[who  deceived  the  Trojans  in  regard  to  the  wooden 
horse,]  who  had  so  little  of  the  Grecian  cunning, 
and  he  wrent  his  ways.  Thus  I  am  in  suspense 
between  hope  and  fear ;  for  this  unapt  mediator 
hath  inspired  me  with  no  little  confidence." 

Luther  goes  on  to  mention  that  he  had  engaged 
Rossenstein,  of  Ingolstadt,  as  professor  of  He- 
brew, and  provided  for  his  travelling  expenses  to 
Wittenberg;  that  Staupitz  had  written  that  he 
would  be  at  Augsburg  as  soon  as  he  should  know 
that  Luther  was  there  ;  that  the  orator  of  France 
had  leff  Augsburg,  but  not  without  leaving  a  sig- 
nal proof  of  his  regard  for  him  ;  thai  the  gulden  rose 
was  sent  to  the  elector  by  the  pope,  and  "salutes 


2G2  LIFE    OF   LUTHER.  [1518. 

all  his  Wittenberg  friends,  and  wishes  them  pros- 
perity, whether  he  returns  to  them  or  not."  The 
letter  to  Melancthon,  written  about  the  same 
time,  has  been  already  given  above. 

October  15,  he  wrote  again  to  Spalatin:  "I 
am  not  minded,  my  dear  Spalatin,  to  write  to 
our  illustrious  prince.  You,  therefore,  who  are 
familiar  with  him,  receive  my  communication,  and 
signify  it  to  him.  The  legate  hath  treated  with 
me,  or  rather  against  me,  now  for  the  space  of  four 
days;  having  before  promised  our  illustrious  prince 
that  he  would  act  a  kind  and  fatherly  part,  but, 
in  truth,  doing  every  thing  by  inflexible  power 
alone.  He  was  loath  to  have  me  debate  the  mat- 
ters in  dispute  with  him  publicly;  nor  was  he 
willing  to  discuss  them  with  me  privately.  His 
replies  were  all  of  this  one  tenor  :  '  Recant ;  ac- 
knowledge your  error;  the  pope  will  have  it  so, 
and  not  otherwise,  whether  you  will  or  not,'  and 
such-like.  ...  At  length,  overcome  by  the  entrea- 
ties of  many,  he  consented  that  I  should  give  my 
reasons  in  writing ;  which  I  have  done  this  day, 
in  the  presence  of  the  elector's  minister,  Felitzsch, 
who  brought  to  mind  the  prince's  request.  At 
length  the  paper  was  rejected  with  disdain,  and 
my  revocation  loudly  demanded ;  and,  with  a  long 
rehearsal  from  the  fables  of  Aquinas,  he  seemed 
to  conquer  and  silence  me.  I  essayed  a  dozen 
times  to  say  a  word,  and  he  chopped  in  upon  me 
as  many  times  with  thundering  tones,  and  reigned 
alone."  Luther  finally  said  to  him,  "If  you  will 
prove  }rour  point  even  from  tho.^e  papal  decrees 
you  have  been  reading,  I  will  revoke  as  you  de- 


M.  34.]  COLLISION  WITH   TETZEL.  0(33 

sire."  "And  now  such  airs  and  such  laughter! 
He  suddenly  seized  the  book,  read  eagerly  and 
out  of  breath/'  till  he  came  to  a  certain  passage, 
when  Luther  stopped  him,  and  said,  "This  ex- 
pression teacheth  just  the  contrary  of  what  you 
assert.  My  conclusion  is,  therefore,  right,"  "  He 
being  contused,  and  yet  not  wishing  to  appear  so, 
prudently  dashed  off  upon  another  matter.  But 
I  eagerly  and  not  very  reverently  interrupted 
him,  and  said:  'Let  not  your  reverence  suppose 
that  the  Germans  arc  ignorant  of  grammar,  too.' 
.  .  .  His  confidence  deserted  him ;  and,  as  he 
cried  out,  'Recant,'  I  left  him,  he  meanwhile  say- 
ing, 'Go,  and  return  not  to  me  till  thou  art  will- 
ing to  recant.' '  What  is  here  thrown  together 
took  place  at  different  times,  as  will  appear  from 
the  following. 

Luther  had  received  the  imperial  safe-conduct 
on  Monday,  the  11th  of  October.  On  Tuesday, 
in  company  with  Frosch,  prior  of  the  Carmelite 
convent,  with  whom  he  lodged,  two  other  breth- 
ren of  the  same  order,  and  Link,  and  another 
Augustinian  monk,  he  had  proceeded  to  the  legate, 
with  whom  he  found  the  apostolical  nuncio  and 
the  orator  Urban,  above  mentioned.  Accordin--- 
to  instructions  previously  received,  Luther  pros- 
trated himself  upon  his  face  before  the  legato. 
When  the  latter  bade  him  rise,  he  rose  first  upon 
his  knees,  and  afterward  upon  his  feet.  Mean- 
while, a  throng  of  curious  Italians  had  crowded 
into  the  room,  in  order  to  see  the  fearless  monk. 
After  acknowledging  thai  lie  was  the  author  of 
the  theses,  and  saying  that  he  was  willing  to  be 


264  LIFE   OF    LUTHER.  [1518. 

instructed  if  he  had  erred,  the  legate  required 
him  to  confess  his  errors,  and  promise  to  drop 
them,  and  no  more  trouble  the  church.  The 
errors  were  chiefly  two,  the  denial  that  the  merits 
and  sufferings  of  Christ  are  the  treasure  of  the 
church,  and  the  assertion  that  faith  was  necessary 
in  order  to  partake  of  the  holy  communion.  Here 
ensued  the  discussion  mentioned  in  the  foregoing 
letter.  On  returning  to  his  lodgings  at  night,  he 
found  Staupitz  there,  having  just  arrived  from 
Salzburg,  his  present  residence.  On  Wednesday, 
Luther  proceeded  again  to  the  cardinal's  house, 
accompanied  by  Staupitz,  the  three  imperial  coun- 
sellors, Auerbach,  Peutinger  and  Langenmantel, 
and  by  Felitzsch,  and  desired  permission  to  reply, 
in  writing,  to  any  errors  which  might  be  imputed 
to  him ;  and  this,  after  a  long  discussion,  in  which 
Staupitz  took  part,  was  granted.  On  Thursday, 
he  came  again  witli  Felitzsch,  the  elector's  minis- 
ter, and  Dr.  Riihel,  and  presented  a  full  reply  in 
writing,  in  which  he  resolutely  maintained  the 
two  positions  complained  of,  and  showed  the 
heresy  of  the  contrary  view.  This  was  the  paper 
which  the  legate  threw  aside  in  contempt;  and 
then  it  was  that  he  was  reduced  to  silence  by 
Luther,  who  turned  against  him  the  very  passage 
the  legate  was  reading  to  prove  his  point.  In 
the  afternoon,  the  legate  sent  for  Staupitz,  and 
requested  him  to  undertake  the  work  of  persuad- 
ing Luther  to  renounce  his  heresy.  But  Staupitz 
replied  that  he  could  not  do  it,  as  Luther  was  too 
strong  for  him  in  the  Scriptures.  He  finally  made 
the  attempt;  but,  when  Luther  brought  forward 


M.  84.]  COLLISION  WITH   TETZEL.  265 

his  passages  of  Scripture,  and  asked  Staupitz  to 
give  any  other  interpretation  of  them,  he  con- 
fessed he  could  not,  and  concluded  by  saying  to 
Luther :  "  Remember,  dear  brother,  that  thou 
hast  taken  this  matter  up  in  the  name  of  Jesus." 
The  cardinal  then  agreed  with  Staupitz  that  he 
would  point  out  the  particular  articles  which 
Luther  should  retract.  But  the  articles  did  not 
come,  and  Luther  sent  his  friend  Link  to  request 
that  the  points  in  dispute  might  be  adjusted.  The 
legate  appeared  friendly,  said  he  did  not  regard 
Luther  as  a  heretic,  and  that  he  would  not  ex- 
communicate him,  unless  he  should  receive  further 
command  so  to  do  from  Rome,  whither  he  had 
just  sent  a  special  messenger  with  Luther's  reply. 
If  Luther  would  but  admit  the  single  article  on 
indulgences,  he  continued,  the  case  might  easily 
be  disposed  of,  for  the  article  on  faith  might  ad- 
mit of  some  explanation.  "A  clear  proof  this," 
said  Staupitz,  on  hearing  it,  "that  Rome  hath 
more  care  for  money  than  for  faith  and  salvation." 
It  was  the  opinion  of  the  various  friends  of 
Luther,  that  Staupitz  and  Link  should  leave 
Augsburg,  and  put  no  further  confidence  in  these 
wily  Italians;  and  consequently  they  both  went, 
though  by  different  routes,  to  Nuremberg  the  same 
day.  Luther  remained  all  day,  Saturday,  without 
hearing  from  the  legate;  also  the  following  Sun- 
day, when  he  sent  a  very  humble  communication 
to  Cajetan,  saying,  he  had.  in  his  excitement,  been 
too  violent  and  disrespectful  toward  the  pope; 
that  it  would  have  been  better  to  have  been  more 
temperate,  and  not  to  have  answered  a  fool  ac- 


OQQ  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1518. 

cording'  to  his  folly;  that  he  would  be  silent  in 
respect  to  indulgences,  if  the  other  party  should 
he  made  to  do  the  same.  He  would  furthermore 
gladly  renounce  whatever  his  conscience  would 
allow;  but  at  no  one's  command,  nor  to  please 
any  one,  could  he  violate  his  conscience.  Having 
received  no  word  in  reply,  he  wrote  again  on 
Monday,  saying,  he  was  not  conscious  of  neglect- 
ing any  thing  which  belonged  to  him  as  a  faithful 
son  of  the  church;  he  could  not  waste  his  time, 
nor  be  longer  burdensome  to  the  Carmelite  mo- 
nastery. Besides,  the  legate  had  forbidden  him 
to  appear  again  without  a  revocation.  His  friends 
had  advised  him  to  appeal  from  the  pope  misin- 
formed, to  the  pope  better  to  be  informed.  Eccle- 
siastical censure  he  had  not  deserved;  neither  did 
he  stand  in  fear  of  it,  By  the  grace  of  God  he 
had  reached  to  that  point,  that  he  feared  excom- 
munication less  than  he  feared  error.  The  legate, 
he  hoped,  would,  before  the  pope,  put  a  kind  con- 
struction upon  his  departure  and  upon  his  appeal. 
Luther  remained  Monday  and  Tuesday,  and  as 
he  heard  nothing  from  the  cardinal,  his  friends 
thought  such  silence  no  good  omen,  and,  accord- 
ing to  their  advice,  Luther  left  Augsburg,  Wed- 
nesday, the  20th,  on  a  horse  which  Staupitz  had 
provided  for  him,  and  with  a  guide  furnished  him 
by  the  council.  Langenmantel  led  him  out  of  the 
city  through  a  small  gate  by  night.  Luther,  with- 
out suitable  garments,  that  is,  in  a  monk's  robe, 
without  boots,  rode  about  forty  miles  the  first  day, 
and  when  he  alighted  from  his  horse  at  the  stable 
at  night,  he  was  unable  to  stand,  and  fell  down 


M.  34.]  COLLISION   WITH   TETZEL.  2G7 

on  the  straw.  In  Grrafenthal,  half-way  between 
Coburg  and  Jena,  Count  Albert  of  Mnnsfeld 
found  him,  and  laughed  heartily  at  the  bare- 
footed and  bare-legged  rider,  and  made  him  his 
guest. 

Luther  felt  thankful  for  his  safe  return,  respect- 
ing which  he  had  been  apprehensive.  To  Carlstadt 
he  had  written:  "But  whether  I  come  back  to 
you  without  injury  or  separation,  or  be  banished 
to  some  other  place,  may  you  prosper  and  adhere 
to  Christ,  and  exalt  him  without  dismay  or  dis- 
couragement." Still,  with  a  single  word,  (revoco, 
I  revoke,)  he  might,  he  assures  us,  have  rendered 
himself  most  acceptable  and  beloved.  "  But,"  says 
he,  "  sooner  than  renounce  that  doctrine  which  has 
made  me  a  Christian,  will  I  die,  be  burned,  banished 
and  cursed." 

The  very  day  he  reached  "Wittenberg,  Oct.  31, 
precisely  twelve  months  from  the  time  he  came 
out  with  his  theses,  he  wrote  to  Spalatin:  "To- 
day, my  dear  Spalatin,  have  I  come,  by  the  grace 
of  God,  safely  to  Wittenberg,  not  knowing,  how- 
ever, how  long  I  shall  abide  here,  for  I  am  in  a 
state  of  uncertainty  between  hope  and  fear." 
After  saying,  that  if  his  first  appeal  is  without 
effect,  he  will  make  another  to  a  general  council, 
he  adds,  "I  am  full  of  joy  and  peace,  so  much  so 
as  to  marvel  that  this  my  trial  should  appear  a 
great  matter  to  many  notable  men."  At  Nurem- 
berg, on  his  way  home,  he  saw7,  for  the  first  time, 
the  papal  brief  and  other  instructions  given  to 
Cajetan,  by  which  it  appeared  he  was  already 
condemned,  unless  he  renounced  his  errors.     He 


268  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1518. 

was  greatly  incensed  at  this  "  apostolical,  or  rather 
diabolical  brief."  "  It  is  incredible  that  a  thing  so 
monstrous  should  come  from  the  chief  pontiff, 
especially  from  Leo  X.  .  .  .  If,  in  truth,  it  did 
come  forth  from  the  Roman  court,"  he  continues, 
"then  I  will  show  them  their  most  licentious 
temerity  and  their  most  ungodly  ignorance."  He 
did,  indeed,  afterward  publish  that  brief,  with  a 
cutting  running  commentary,  in  which,  among 
other  things,  he  says,  "The  best  of  all  is,  that 
the  brief  is  dated  August  23,  and  my  citation  was 
given  August  7,  leaving  a  space  of  but  sixteen 
days.  .  .  .  What,  then,  becometh  of  the  sixty 
days  spoken  of  in  my  summons  ? — [within  which 
he  was  to  appear  for  trial.]  Is  this  the  fashion 
and  custom  of  the  Roman  court,  to  cite,  warn,  ac- 
cuse, judge,  condemn  and  give  sentence  all  on  one 
and  the  same  day ;  and  that,  too,  when  the  person 
indicted  is  so  far  from  Rome  as  to  know  nothing 
thereof?  What  answer  will  they  make  to  this? 
Peradventure  they  forgot  to  clear  their  brain  with 
hellebore  before  entering  upon  these  acts  of  decep- 
tion and  fraud." 

In  the  same  letter,  quoted  above,  Luther  men- 
tions that  Frosch,  prior  of  the  Carmelite  monas- 
tery at  Augsburg,  who  had  treated  him  "with 
incredible  liberality  and  kindness"  during  his  stay 
there,  was  about  to  apply  for  the  degree  of  doc- 
tor of  divinity  at  Wittenberg.  "  He  is  worthy  on 
sundry  accounts,"  says  Luther,  "to  be  requited 
with  a  favour  from  us.  By  promise  of  the  elec- 
tor, as  he  saith,  he  expectcth  a  public  dinner  to 
be  given  unto  him  on  occasion  of  that  solemnity. 


M.  34.]  COLLISION    WITH   TETZEL.  2G9 

I  may  resl  well  assured  it  will  be  so,  if  the  elec- 
tor hath  promised  it.  All  needful  preparations 
will,  without  doubt,  be  made.  See  to  it,  then. 
that  his  expectation  be  fulfilled  on  our  part  with 
due  honour."  The  elector  seems  either  not  to 
have  had  a  distinct  recollection  of  the  promise, 
or  to  have  found  some  difficulty  in  fulfilling  it. 
Luther  observes,  not  without  chagrin,  in  a  sub- 
sequent letter :  "  Lest  a  man  so  worthy  of  being 
honoured  be  dismissed  without  honour,  we  have 
had  recourse  to  our  own  monastery,  and  shall 
provide  the  dinner  at  our  own  trouble.  .  .  .  But 
we  are  very  poor,  and  there  is  already  a  multi- 
tude of  us,  so  that  we  cannot,  without  difficulty, 
be  at  that  expense.  I  pray  you,  therefore,  to  see 
that  the  prince  furnish  us  with  the  wild  fowl  and 
venison."  On  the  18th  of  November,  Luther,  as 
dean  of  the  theological  faculty,  conferred  the  de- 
gree. But  Melancthon,  the  young  Greek  profes- 
sor, whom  the  heroic  reformer  had  as  yet  seen 
but  a  few  times,  did  not  come  to  the  dinner. 
Luther  wrote  him  the  same  day  the  following 
facetious  note,  inviting  him  to  supper:  "To-day, 
you  have  despised  me  and  the  new  doctor,  which 
may  the  muses  and  Apollo  forgive  you.  And  I, 
though  the  affair  was  not  altogether  mine,  myself 
forgive  you.  But  unless  yon  appear  this  time  to 
meet  Dr.  Carlstadt,  licentiate  Amsdorf,  and  espe- 
cially the  rector,  neither  your  Greek  learning,  nor 
little  brother  Martin,  as  Cajetancalleth  me,  will  ex- 
cuse yon.  The  new  doctor  jocosely  saith  he  sup- 
poseth  he,  as  a  barbarian,  is  lightly  esteemed  by 
the  Greek.     Be  careful  what  you  do,  for  1  have 

23* 


270  ™FE   OF   LUTHEE.  [1518. 

promised  that  you  will  assuredly  be  present  this 
time." 

As  early  as  the  25th  of  October,  Cajetan  wrote 
to  the  Elector  Frederic,  complaining  of  Luther, 
and  affirming  that  his  teachings  were  contrary 
to  those  of  the  Roman  see,  and  deserving  to  be 
condemned.  "  Your  grace,"  he  continues,  "  may 
believe  me,  for  I  speak  the  truth,  from  what  I 
certainly  know,  and  not  from  mere  opinion."  He 
then  begs  and  exhorts  the  elector  either  to  send 
Luther  to  Rome,  or  to  banish  him  from  the  coun- 
try. This  letter  was  put  into  the  hands  of  Lu- 
ther, with  the  request  that  he  would  indicate 
what  reply  ought  to  be  given.  Luther  took  this 
opportunity  to  rehearse  the  whole  course  of  the 
transactions  with  Cajetan ;  to  expose  the  unfair- 
ness of  them,  and  to  open  the  eyes  of  the  prince 
more  fully  in  respect  to  the  chicanery  practised 
by  the  Roman  court.  In  this  letter  he  says  to 
the  elector :  "  In  order  that  no  evil  may  accrue 
to  your  grace  on  my  account,  a  thing  which  I 
least  of  all  desire,  I  purpose  to  forsake  your  do- 
minions, and  go  wheresoever  my  gracious  God 
will  have  me,  and  submit  myself  to  his  divine 
will,  whatsoever  may  come."  He  wrote  to  Spa- 
latin  that  he  should  regret  to  be  arrested  in  his 
course  at  Wittenberg,  not  so  much  on  his  own 
account  as  on  that  of  the  university,  and  the 
many  excellent  young  men  who  were  there, 
burning  with  zeal  for  a  knowledge  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures.  If  he  should  be  silenced,  the  turn 
would  next  come  to  Carlstadt  and  to  the  whole 
theological  faculty.     The  university  wrote  to  the 


M.  34.]  COLLISION  WITH   TETZEL.  271 

elector,  entreating  him  to  interest  himself  espe- 
cially in  the  cause  of  Luther.  To  his  congrega- 
tion Luther  said,  "  I  am,  in  these  times,  as  you 
Avell  know,  an  irregular  preacher,  having  often 
gone  away  without  taking  leave  of  you.  Should 
that  ever  take  place  again,  I  will  now  say  fare- 
well, in  case  I  should  not  return." 

As  Frederic  wTas  very  reserved  in  regard  to  his 
opinion  of  Luther's  course,  and  as  the  latter  was 
desirous  not  only  not  to  involve  his  prince  in  the 
controversy,  but  to  enjoy  more  freedom  for  dis- 
cussion than  he  supposed  could  be  allowTed  him 
in  Saxony,  he  seriously  purposed  retiring  from 
his  post,  and  seeking  some  other  place  of  abode. 
Paris  seemed  to  be  the  place  of  his  choice,  as  he 
vainly  imagined  the  defenders  of  the  liberties  of 
the  Gallican  church  would  sympathize  wdth  him. 
There  was  much  consultation  wTith  Spalatin  and 
other  friends  about  the  place  and  manner  of  re- 
tirement, and  all  things  were  arranged  by  Luther 
for  a  speedy  departure,  when  suddenly,  on  the 
1st  of  December,  a  letter  came  to  him  from  the 
secretary  Spalatin,  which  prevented  the  execu- 
tion of  the  plan. 

December  2,  he  wTrites  :  "  Had  your  letter  not 
been  received  yesterday,  my  dear  Spalatin,  I  had 
taken  measures  for  my  departure,  and  I  still  hold 
myself  ready  either  to  go  or  to  remain.  The  con- 
cern my  friends  feel  for  me  maketh  me  marvel, 
and  is  more  than  I  can  endure.  Some  have  urged 
with  great  earnest! loss  thai  I  should  give  myself 
up  as  a  captive  to  the  elector,  in  order  that  he 
might   take   possession    of   me   and   keep   me   in 


272  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1518. 

custody,  and  then  write  to  the  legate  that  I  was 
detained  in  safe  keeping  until  I  should  render  an 
account  of  my  doings.  What  opinion  ought  to  be 
entertained  of  this  advice,  I  leave  to  be  decided 
by  your  wisdom.  I  am  in  the  hands  of  God  and 
of  my  friends. 

"  It  is  certain  that  the  elector  is  believed  to  be 
on  my  side.  This  I  learn  from  a  man  who  would 
assuredly  not  deceive  me.  At  the  court  of  the 
Bishop  of  Brandenburg,  the  question  was  lately 
moved  what  my  confidence  was,  in  wdiose  support 
I  trusted.  One  replied,  '  In  Erasmus,  Capito, 
and  other  learned  men.'  '  No/  said  the  bishop, 
1  these  would  have  no  weight  with  the  pope.  It 
is  the  University  of  Wittenberg  and  the  Duke  of 
Saxony  that  uphold  him.'  Thus  I  clearly  see 
that  the  elector  is  thought  to  be  with  me,  and 
this  displeaseth  me.  The  suspicion  he  stands  in, 
as  being  joined  with  me,  will  constrain  me  to 
withdraw,  if  any  thing  can  have  that  effect;  al- 
though the  elector  might  say  in  his  reply,  that 
he  is  a  layman,  and  doth  not  take  upon  him  to 
judge  in  such  matters ;  and  the  more  so,  because 
he  seeth  that  the  university,  which  hath  the  ap- 
proval of  the  church,  is  not  against  me.  But  you 
have  no  need  of  these  my  cogitations.  If  I  re- 
main here,  I  shall  be  hindered  from  saying  and 
writing  many  things ;  if  I  go  away,  I  shall  open 
my  whole  mind,  and  oiler  up  my  life  unto  Christ." 

The  pope  resorted  to  another  expedient  in  order 
to  accomplish  his  purpose  in  respect  to  Luther. 
He  appointed  Miltitz,  a  Saxon  by  birth,  now 
agent   of  the   elector  at   Rome,   as   a  nuncio   to 


M.  34.]  COLLISION  WITH   TETZEL.  973 

Germany,  and  fitted  him  out  with  a  golden  rose, 
a  token  of  friendship  given  only  to  princes  who 
were  the  pope's  favourites.  Miltitz  was  to  unite 
with  this  flattering  office  that  of  making  good 
what  had  been  lost  by  Cajetan  toward  effecting 
a  reconciliation.  This  undertaking  of  Miltitz, 
which  from  various  causes  was  an  entire  failure, 
was  a  sort  of  interlude.  The  nuncio  acted  a 
shrewd  part,  and,  but  for  Eck  and  other  zea- 
lots, would  probably  have  been  successful.  He 
avoided  connection  with  Cajetan,  who  had  be- 
come generally  odious  by  his  arrogance,  and  as- 
sociated himself  closely  with  Pfeffinger,  the  elec- 
tor's minister.  He  demeaned  himself  as  a  subject 
of  Frederic,  admitted  the  justness  of  Luther's 
complaints  against  indulgences,  and  treated  Lu- 
ther with  great  consideration  and  tenderness. 
For  a  long  time,  he  was  received  and  treated 
with  suspicion.  Luther  did  not  trust  him.  Still 
he  induced  Luther  to  make  many  important  con- 
cessions, all  that  could  possibly  be  made  by  him 
with  a  good  conscience.  When,  in  the  beginning 
of  the  year  1519,  the  imperial  throne  became 
vacant,  the  pontiff  was  interested  to  exclude  the 
house  of  Austria,  already  too  powerful,  from  the 
succession,  and  secure  the  election  of  the  King 
of  France.  iMvderic's  position,  as  one  of  the 
most  influential  of  the  electors  and  as  vicar  of 
the  empire,  now  rendered  it  necessary  for  the 
Roman  see  to  change  its  haughty  tone  toward 
liini.  and  consequently  Luther  was  left  for  seve- 
ral months  comparatively  free. 

On  the  9th  of  December,  1518,  Luther  wrote 


274  LIFE   OF  LUTIIEll.  [1518. 

two  letters  to  Spalatin,  one  in  which  he  proposes 
a  moderate  reform  in  the  university,  by  dropping 
one  or  two  courses  of  lectures  in  the  scholastic 
philosophy  $  the  other  in  which  he  speaks  thus: 
"That  which  you,  my  dear  Spalatin,  direct  me 
not  to  do  [the  publishing  of  his  account  of  the 
interview  with  Cajetan  at  Augsburg]  hath  been 
already  done.  My  rehearsal  of  those  doings 
has  been  published,  and  I  have  used  great  liberty 
therein,  and  yet  have  come  short  of  the  whole 
truth.  Herein,  as  well  as  in  all  other  matters,  I 
perceive  that  I  must  act  without  any  delay.  Yes- 
terday I  was  given  to  understand  from  Nurem- 
berg that  Charles  von  Miltitz  was  on  his  way 
hither  with  three  papal  briefs,  as  it  is  on  good  au- 
thority said,  for  apprehending  me  and  delivering 
me  up  to  the  pope.  The  Eisleben  doctor,  who, 
with  Felitzsch,  was  present  when  I  stood  before  the 
legate,  hath  given  me  warning  through  our  prior 
to  be  on  my  guard.  ...  I  have  heard  many  such- 
like things  which,  whether  they  be  true,  or  only 
given  out  in  order  to  terrify  me,  must  not,  I  think, 
go  unheeded.  Therefore,  to  the  end  they  may  not 
come  upon  me  unawares  and  despatch  me,  nor,  on 
the  other  hand,  cast  me  down  and  overcome  me 
by  means  of  judgments  jmssed  against  me,  I  hold 
myself  in  readiness  for  any  event,  and  so  await 
the  will  of  God.  I  have  made  my  appeal  to  a 
future  council.  The  more  they  rage  and  have 
recourse  to  violence,  so  much  the  less  am  I  terri- 
fied. I  will  one  day  be  yet  more  bold  against 
those  Roman  hydras.  That  which  3^011  have 
heard,  namely,  that  I  have  taken  leave  of  the 


M.  34.]  COLLISION  WITH   TETZEL.  275 

people  of  Wittenberg,  is  not  so.  I  only  said,  .  .  . 
'If  I  should  ever  again  suddenly  leave  you,  I 
wish  now  to  say  farewell,  in  case  I  should  not 
return.' " 

On  the  11th  of  the  same  month,  he  wrote  to  his 
friend  Link  in  Nuremberg :  "  The  report  touching 
the  three  apostolical  briefs,  given  unto  Miltitz 
against  me,  hath  come  to  my  ears.  Casper, 
[Aquila,]  who  had  learned  this  from  your  letter, 
informed  me  of  the  same  by  a  special  messenger, 
in  his  over-anxiety  for  me.  I  send  you  my  Trans- 
actions, written  with  more  sharpness  than  the 
legate  would  like  to  see  published.  But  my  pen 
is  already  producing  still  weightier  things.  I 
know  not  whence  these  cogitations  arise.  This 
matter  hath  in  my  esteem  hardly  a  beginning  yet, 
so  for  is  it  from  the  end,  which  the  great  ones  of 
Rome  are  looking  for.  I  will  send  unto  you  my 
trifles,  that  you  may  see  whether  I  rightly  inter- 
pret the  words  of  Paul  in  respect  of  antichrist,  as 
referring  to  the  court  of  Rome.  I  think  I  can 
plainly  show  that  the  Romans  are  even  now  worse 
than  the  Turks.  ...  I  live  in  expectation  of  the 
attempts  of  my  murderers,  whether  from  Rome 
or  from  any  other  quarter.  I  marvel  that  the 
excommunication  tarries  so  long.  .  .  .  Our  studies 
are  going  actively  on,  and  we  are  as  busy  as  bees. 
Farewell.  Greet  all  my  friends,  especially  the 
preacher  Sebaldinus,  and  the  other  master,  but 
most  of  all  Pirkheimer,  Albert  Diirer,  and  Chris- 
topher Scheurl,  [the  most  influential  men  in  Nu- 
remberg.] Eck  writeth  that  he  is  not  altogether 
pleased  nor  altogether  displeased  with  my  reply 


276  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1518. 

to  Prierias ;  but  he  addeth  a  very  sagacious  and 
true  clause,  namely,  that  he  well  knoweth  his 
opinion  will  not  weigh  much  with  me." 

Two  days  later,  he  wrote  to  Staupitz,  then  in 
Salzburg,  mentioning  his  safe  return  from  Augs- 
burg, and  then  proceeding  to  say:  "The  elector 
dissuaded  me  altogether  from  bringing  out  my 
account  of  the  Augsburg  Transactions;  but  at 
length  he  hath  given  his  consent,  and  they  are 
now  in  course  of  printing.  In  the  mean  season, 
the  legate  wrote  [to  him,]  bitterly  accusing  me 
and  you  and  my  associates,  as  he  calleth  them, 
complaining  that  I  departed  secretly  from  Augs- 
burg, and  that  it  was  done  in  guile.  He  then 
counselleth  the  elector  to  send  me  bound  to  Rome, 
or  to  banish  me  from  his  dominions,  in  order  that 
he  bring  not  a  foul  spot  upon  his  name  for  the 
sake  of  one  little  monk.  He  saith  the  cause  will 
be  sustained  and  prosecuted  at  Rome;  that  he 
himself  hath  written  to  the  city,  giving  an  account 
of  my  fraud,  and  that  he  hath  washed  his  hands 
of  the  fault.  The  elector  desired  me  to  reply 
to  that  letter,  in  order  that  he  might  put  my  an- 
swer with  his  own,  and  send  both  to  the  legate. 
This  have  I  done,  and,  as  I  think,  in  a  satisfactory 
manner.  The  elector  manifests  much  concern  for 
me,  but  would  choose  I  were  somewhere  else.  He 
ordered  Spalatin  to  call  me  to  Lichtenburg,  and  to 
confer  fully  with  me  on  the  matter  there.  I  told 
him,  that  if  the  excommunication  should  come,  I 
would  not  continue  here.  He  entreated  me  not 
to  think  of  going  to  France.  I  am  still  waiting 
to  learn  his  final  decision.     As  for  you,  my  be- 


jE.  34.]  COLLISION   WITH    TETZEL.  277 

loved  father,  farewell.  Commend  to  Christ  my 
soul  alone.  I  see  that  these  men  have  determined 
on  in  v  death;  but  Christ  determineth  not  to  yield 
in  me.  Let,  yea,  let  his  holy  and  blessed  will  be 
done.  Pray  for  me.  .  .  .  Our  studies  prosper 
well,  save  that  there  is  a  lack  of  time  for  our  best 
lectures." 

To  Reuchlin,  the  very  next  day,  December 
11  tli,  Luther  wrote  the  following  spirited  and 
magnificent  letter:  "The  Lord  be  with  you,  most 
courageous  man:  I  rejoice  in  the  goodness  of  God 
which  is  manifested  in  you,  most  erudite  and  most 
excel  lent  sir,  in  that  you  have  been  able  to  stop 
the  mouths  of  evil-speakers.  Surely  you  were  an 
instrument  of  the  Divine  will,  though  not  knowing- 
it  yourself,  yet  longed  for  by  all  the  lovers  of  a 
pure  theology.  Quite  other  things  are  accom- 
plished by  God  than  that  which  seemeth  out- 
wardly to  be  done  through  you.  Of  those  who 
desired  to  be  joined  with  you,  I  was  one;  but  I 
had  no  opportunity.  Yet  was  I  always  most  pre- 
sent with  you  in  my  prayers  and  wishes.  But 
now,  that  which  was  denied  me  when  I  would 
fain  have  been  your  fellow-labourer,  is  abundantly 
granted  me  as  your  successor.  The  teeth  of  that 
behemoth  are  nowr  gnashing  upon  me,  to  repair,  if 
possible,  the  dishonour  received  through  you.  I 
meet  these  men  with  much  less  of  ability  and 
learning,  but  not  with  less  confidence,  than  that 
wherewith  you  met  and  overcame  them.  They 
abstain  from  contending  with  me.  They  refuse 
to  reply  unto  me,  and  have  recourse  to  nothing 
else  but  force  and  violence.     But  Christ  liveth, 

24 


278  LIFE    OF  'LUTHER.  [1518. 

ajjid  I  can  lose  nothing,  because  I  possess  nothing* 
By  your  firmness  the  horns  of  those  bulls  are  not 
a  little  broken.  This  doth  the  Lord  accomplish 
through  you  to  the  end  that  the  sophistical  tyrants 
may  learn  to  be  a  little  more  tardy  and  moderate 
in  resisting  the  truth;  that  Germany  may  draw 
breath  again,  and  the  teaching  of  the  Scriptures 
be  revived,  which,  alas !  have  for  so  many  centu- 
ries been  not  only  kept  down,  but  extinguished." 
He  excused  himself  for  writing  so  familiarly,  by 
saying  that  his  affection  for  him,  and  his  know- 
ledge of  him,  both  through  common  fame  and 
through  his  books,  together  with  Melancthon's 
assurance  that  it  would  be  kindly  received,  em- 
boldened him  thus  to  write.  Reuchlin's  dispute 
with  the  Dominican  monks  of  Cologne  was  at  first 
personal,  and  related  to  the  value  of  Hebrew  and 
Greek  literature;  but  it  ended  in  dividing  Ger- 
many into  two  great  parties,  henceforth  to  be 
represented  by  Luther  and  his  opponents. 

In  a  letter  to  Spalatin,  December  20,  on  the 
subject  of  the  electors  letter  to  Cajetan,  Luther, 
among  other  things,  says :  "  I  have  seen  the  ex- 
cellent letter  of  our  illustrious  prince  to  the  reve- 
rend legate.  With  what  joy  did  I  read  that  let- 
ter over  and  over  again,  which  so  aboundeth  in 
Christian  confidence,  and  is  yet  so  wonderfully 
meek.  I  do  only  but  fear  that  the  Italians  will 
not  understand  how  much  is  meant  under  that 
humble  attitude  and  form.  They  are  a  people, 
whose  custom  and  use  it  is,  both  in  their  doings 
and  in  their  writings,  to  set  every  thing  forth  with 
great  ostentation  and  show.     But  they  will,  at 


IE.  34.]  COLLISION   WITH   TETZEL.  279 

least,  see  so  much  as  this,  that  nothing  which 
they  have  put  their  hands  to  seemeth  to  prosper. 
It  cannot  be  otherwise  hut  that  they  will  be 
greatly  displeased.  Wherefore,  I  entreat  you  in 
the  Lord,  to  thank  the  prince  on  my  behalf,  and 
show  unto  him  how  joyful  and  grateful  I  am.  It 
hath  all  turned  out  well  that  he,  [Cajetan,]  who, 
a  little  while  before,  was  but  a  poor  monk  like 
myself,  did  not  fear  to  draw  near  to  great  po- 
tentates, [such  as  Frederic,]  without  showing 
them  any  honour  or  reverence,  and  to  threaten 
them,  to  command  them,  and  to  treat  them  as 
haughtily  as  he  pleased.  He  may  now  know, 
though  late,  that  the  civil  power  is  of  God,  and 
that  the  honours  thereof  may  not  be  trodden  in 
the  dust,  especially  by  one  who  hath  received  his 
own  authority  from  only  a  man,  [the  pope.]  It 
pleaseth  me  much,  that  in  this  matter  the  prince 
hath  shown  an  impatience  so  patient  and  prudent. 
The  Lord  own  and  acknowledge  all  this,  whatso- 
ever it  be,  as  his." 

On  the  27th  of  December,  Miltitz  reached  Al- 
tcnburg,  his  head-quarters  while  in  Saxony.  Hav- 
ing learned  the  vile  practices  of  Tetzel,  and  espe- 
cially his  squandering  habits,  he  wrote  to  Leipsic, 
only  twenty-seven  miles  distant,  where  that  monk 
passed  the  remaining  few  months  of  his  life, 
ordering  him  to  appear  at  Altenburg,  to  give  an 
account  of  his  doings.  We  have  the  reply  of  Tet- 
zel, preserved  in  full.  Under  date  of  December 
31,  1-318,  he  begins  his  letter  thus:  "Your  ex- 
cellency hath  given  me  notice,  that  I  am  required 
to  come  to  Altenburg,  to  hear  somewhat   in  par- 


280  LIFE   OF    LUTHER.  [1518. 

ticular  from  you.  Now,  I  would  willingly  under- 
take the  labour  of  such  journey,  if  I  could,  with- 
out peril  of  life,  go  out  of  Leipsic.  For  the 
Auirustinian  monk,  Martin  Luther,  hath  stirred 
up  not  only  all  the  German  estates,  but  even  the 
kingdoms  of  Bohemia,  Hungary,  and  Poland 
against  me,  so  that  I  am  nowhere  in  safety." 

He  complains  of  Luther's  hostility  and  false 
accusations,  particularly  as  made  in  the  account 
which  the  latter  had  recently  given  of  the  transac- 
tions at  Augsburg,  "in  which  all  the  blame  was  cast 
upon  Tetzel  and  his  abettors;"  and  closes  by  say- 
ing, that  he  has  already  suffered  very  much  for 
his  fidelity  to  the  pope,  but  will  nevertheless  con- 
tinue to  be  faithful  until  death.  He  died  not  long 
after,  in  such  wretchedness  as  to  excite  Luther's 
compassion,  and  draw  forth  from  him  a  letter  of 
Christian  consolation.  His  death  occurred  during 
the  Leipsic  disputation,  on  the  4th  of  July,  the 
very  day  that  Luther,  but  a  few  rods  distant  from 
Tetzel's  retreat,  began  his  debate  with  Eck. 

Meanwhile,  Luther  had  an  interview  with  Mil- 
titz,  at  Altenburg,  the  first  week  in  January, 
1519.  On  the  second  da}r,  he  writes  without 
date  to  the  elector :  "  It  is  quite  too  much  that 
3'our  electoral  and  princely  grace  should  be  so 
entangled  in  my  affairs  and  troubles ;  but,  as  it  is 
a  thing  of  necessity,  which  God  hath  so  ordered, 
I  pray  you  accept  it  graciously.  Yesterday, 
Charles  von  Miltitz  set  forth  very  earnestly  the 
discredit  and  dishonour  done  through  me  to 
the  Roman  see,  and  I  promised  to  do,  with  all 
humility,  what  I  could  to  make  reparation.  .  .  . 


JE.  35.]  COLLISION  WITH    TETZEL.  281 

First,  I  agreed  to  drop  the  matter,  and  let  it  die 
of  itself,  on  condition  that  my  adversaries  do  the 
same.  For  I  think  if  they  had  let  my  writings 
pass,  all  should  have  been  still,  and  the  song- 
ended,  and  the  people  weary  of  it  long  ago. 
Furthermore,  I  fear,  if  this  course  be  not  taken, 
but  the  strife  go  on  either  by  violence  or  by  dis- 
putation, something  ill  will  come  of  it,  and  the 
play  will  turn  out  to  be  too  much  in  earnest. 
Therefore,  I  think  it  best  to  let  the  matter  end 
where  it  is.  Secondly,  I  have  promised  to  write 
to  his  holiness  the  pope,  submitting  myself  hum- 
bly to  him,  and  acknowledging  that  I  have  been 
too  heated  and  violent,  though  I  did  not  intend 
thereby  to  harm  the  holy  Roman  church,  but 
rather,  as  a  true  son  of  the  church,  to  set  myself 
against  blasphemous  preaching,  which  brought  the 
Roman  church  into  contempt  and  reproach  among 
the  people.  Thirdly,  I  consented  to  put  forth  an 
address,  exhorting  all  to  follow7,  obey  and  honour 
the  Roman  church,  and  to  interpret  my  writings, 
not  to  the  discredit,  but  to  the  honour  of  that 
church  ;  and  I  promised  to  confess,  in  the  same, 
that  I  have  been  too  warm,  and,  perchance,  out 
of  season,  in  what  I  have  said.  .  .  .  Fourthly, 
Master  Spalatin,  at  the  instance  of  Fabian,  pro- 
posed to  lav  the  matter  in  dispute  before  the  most 
reverend  Archbishop  of  Salzburg,  by  whose  deci- 
sion, to  be  made  after  consultation  with  learned 
men,  I  must  abide,  unless  I  may  choose  to  appeal 
from  it  to  a  future  council.  Perhaps  the  jar  may 
thus  be  stayed,  and  made  quietly  to  pass  away. 
But  I  fear  the  pope  will  not  allow  a  judge,  [to  de- 

24* 


282  LIFE   OF   LUTHER,  [1519. 

cide  between  him  and  me,]  and  I  certainly  will 
not  allow  the  pope's  authority.  If,  therefore,  the 
first  plan  doth  not  work  well,  the  play  will  be, 
that  the  pope  will  give  the  text,  and  I  make 
the  commentary.  But  that  is  not  a  thing  to  be 
wished.  I  have  conferred  with  Miltitz  thereon, 
who  doubteth  this  will  not  be  enough ;  and  yet 
did  he  not  demand  a  recantation  from  me,  but  will 
take  the  proposal  into  consideration.  If  your 
grace  thinketh  I  can  do  more,  condescend,  for  the 
Lord's  sake,  graciously  to  show  it  unto  me ;  for 
all  pains  taken  to  draw  from  me  a  retractation  will 
nothing  avail." 

To  many  it  seems  difficult  to  interpret  these 
concessions  in  a  manner  that  shall  be  honourable 
to  Luther.  His  firmness  seems  almost  to  have 
deserted  him.  But  we  must  remember  that  his 
case,  at  that  time,  appeared  nearly  desperate.  He 
was  unwilling  to  stand  in  such  relations  of  depend- 
ence to  the  elector,  or  to  involve  him  in  the  con- 
troversy. The  result  was  very  uncertain.  The 
papal  nuncio  treated  him  with  great  kindness,  and 
conceded  nearly  all  that  he  had  asserted,  so  that 
Luther  would  come  off  quite  as  well  as  the  pope 
would.  Besides,  the  concessions  of  Luther  related 
to  the  Roman  church,  in  the  abstract,  apart  from 
the  abuses  of  unworthy  functionaries ;  and  for  this 
church,  so  viewed,  he  never  lost  his  reverence, 
nor  did  he  ever  adopt  the  theory  of  separation. 
Luther  was  always,  and  more  particularly  in  the 
earlier  and  later  parts  of  his  life,  a  churchman,  and 
therefore  he  could  take  the  ground  he  did  in  this 
letter.     Finally,  he  refused  to  retract,  and  would 


JE.  35.]  COLLISION    WITH   TETZEL.  283 

confess  little,  except  indiscretion  in  the  manner  he 
had  written.  And,  after  all,  what  if  Luther  was 
1 1 ui nan,  and  was  not  always  equally  the  saint  or 
the  hero?  What  if  the  transactions  with  the 
nuncio  betrayed  a  weak  point  in  the  reformer  in 
an  hour  of  despondency  and  gloom  ?  Luther  was 
not  perfect,  was  not  always  consistent,  nor  always 
right  either  in  his  opinions  or  in  his  feelings.  Far 
from  it. 

The  interview  on  Luther's  part  was  somewhat 
of  a  diplomatic  character.  He  distrusted  the 
Roman  courtier,  though  a  Saxon  by  birth.  He 
doubted  whether  the  court  of  Rome  would  go  so 
far  as  the  nuncio  believed.  He  wished  to  have  it 
appear,  in  case  of  failure,  that  the  fault  was  not 
his.  And,  moreover,  he  all  the  while  entertained 
views  and  feelings  which  he  thought  it  not  best  to 
betray  either  to  the  nuncio,  or  to  the  elector.  He 
was  dealing  with  men  of  the  court. 

In  the  freedom  of  confidential  correspondence, 
Luther,  in  letters  to  various  friends,  unbosoms  all 
his  feelings  and  transient  impressions.  But  with 
wonderful  variety  and  adaptation  to  character,  he 
imparts  to  his  several  correspondents  only  what 
their  peculiarities  would  enable  them  to  appre- 
ciate, and  what  would  meet  with  their  sympathy. 
To  the  elector  he  writes  witli  reserve,  but  in  a 
way  adapted  to  win  his  confidence  and  affection, 
and  speaks  of  transactions  as  they  would  be  likely 
to  affect  his  policy.  To  Spa  la  tin.  lie  writes  as  to 
a  friend  and  a  theologian  more  fully  and  freely, 
but  with  the  evident  expectation  that  it  will, 
indirectly  and  on  the  most   fitting  occasions,  and 


284  LIFE    OF    LUTHER.  [1519. 

with  suitable  accompaniments,  reach  the  elector's 
ear.  To  Scheurl,  he  writes  as  to  an  intelligent 
statesman  and  warm  friend,  whom  he  highly 
respects,  and  whose  influence  in  Nuremberg  is  of 
great  importance  to  him.  Through  him,  he  is 
virtually  addressing  the  south  of  Germany,  and 
he  does  not  forget  this  in  the  tone  of  his  letters. 
To  Egran,  an  independent  and  bold  innovator  or 
reformer  in  Zwickau,  he  writes  as  to  a  kindred 
spirit,  and  speaks  right  out  without  reserve.  To 
Staupitz,  he  writes  with  affection  and  a  deli- 
cate regard  to  his  character  and  position,  as  a 
timid  friend,  whom  he  wishes  to  draw  forth  from 
his  papal  connections  and  sympathies.  All  these 
things  must  be  taken  into  the  account,  if  we  would 
rightly  understand  his  letters. 

To  Scheurl  he  writes,  January  13,  1519:  "I 
have  stolen  from  myself  and  from  my  labours  this 
hour,  and  write,  at  last,  to  the  intent  that  I  may 
not  seem  unthankful  for  so  many  letters  from  you, 
or  unwilling  to  reply.  I,  in  all  sincerity,  thank 
you  for  the  pure  and  true  friendship  whereby  you 
lend  me  your  counsels  and  show  your  solicitude 
for  me.  Gladly  would  I  see  the  end  of  this  tur- 
bulence, if  my  enemies  wTere  of  the  same  mind. 
But  they  purpose,  as  I  see,  to  compass  their  work, 
not  by  gentleness,  but  by  power  and  violence. 
Hence,  they  daily  stir  up  against  themselves  the 
more  oppositions,  and  bring  nothing  to  pass.  That 
the  upstir  can  never  be  put  down  by  naked  force, 
I  well  know.  The  trifles  of  Sylvester  [Prierias,] 
if  they  are  indeed  his,  seem  not  to  deserve  a 
reply  from  me:  they  are  puerile  and  woman^, 


jE.  35.]  COLLISION  WITH   TETZEL.  285 

nothing  but  the  moanings  of  his  grief.  With 
Charles  [Miltitz,]  I  have  had  a  very  friendly 
meeting,  and  it  has  been  agreed,  first,  that  utter 
silence  on  this  subject  shall  be  observed  on  both 
parts ;  and,  secondly,  that  b}r  order  of  the  supreme 
pontiff,  some  German  bishop  shall  point  out  the 
errors  which  I  shall  retract.  But,  except  God  in- 
terpose, nothing  will  be  brought  to  pass,  especially 
if  they  shall  take  in  hand  to  force  me  with  that 
new  decretal,  the  which  I  have  not  yet  seen.  I 
have  heard  that  it  asserts  the  plenitude  of  [the 
papal]  power,  without  bringing  forward  any  sup- 
port either  from  the  Scriptures  or  from  the  canons. 
But  this  I  would  never  grant  to  any  decretal,  even 
the  most  ancient.  Who  can  tell  what  God  intends 
to  raise  up  through  these  monsters?  As  touching 
myself,  I  am  neither  terrified  nor  desirous  to  hush 
the  matter.  I  have  in  store  many  things,  which 
could  touch  the  Roman  hydra,  and  which  I  wTould 
fain  bring  forth,  if  suffered  to  do  so.  But  if  God 
will  not  that  I  should  have  the  liberty,  the  will  of 
the  Lord  be  done." 

In  the  dubious  state  of  things  then  existing, 
what  could  be  said  more  adapted  in  any  event  to 
secure  the  confidence  and  continued  respect  of  the 
friend  who  had  evidently  been  advising  him  to  a 
peaceful  course?  How  different  the  tone  of  his 
letter  to  Egran,  who  had  already  broken,  on  his 
own  account,  with  the  Papists,  or  rather  with  the 
monks  who  had  assailed  Luther.  It  was  written 
February  2,  and  begins  thus  :  "  Accept  a  brief 
notice,  my  dear  Egran,  of  the  present  state  of 
my  affairs.     Charles  von  Miltitz  was  sent  unto 


28G  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1519. 

our  prince,  armed  with  more  than  seventy  apos- 
tolical briefs,  given  to  this  end,  that  he  should 
bring  me  alive  and  bound  to  Rome,  that  murder- 
ous Jerusalem.  But  being  laid  prostrate  by  the 
Lord  on  the  way,  that  is,  being  terrified  by  the 
multitude  of  those  who  favour  me,  after  he  had 
most  carefully  noted  the  estimation  in  which 
the  people  held  me,  he  turned  his  violence  into 
friendship,  which  was  nothing  but  a  pretence, 
and  treated  with  me  a  long  while  to  j3ersuade  me, 
for  the  honour  of  the  church,  to  retract  what  I 
had  said.  To  which  I  replied  after  this  sort: 
i  Let  the  manner  of  retracting  be  determined,  and 
the  grounds  of  the  error  pointed  out  in  such  a 
manner  that  they  would  appear  plain  both  to  the 
common  people  and  to  the  learned,  lest  a  wrong  re- 
tractation should  stir  up  still  greater  hatred  against 
Rome.'  It  was  at  length  agreed  by  us,  that  the 
Bishops  of  Salzburg  and  Treves  should  be  chosen, 
and  that  unto  one  of  them  the  case  should  be  re- 
ferred for  decision;  and  thus  we  parted  as  friends 
with  a  [Judas]  kiss.  For  in  his  entreaties  he  shed 
tears.  I,  for  my  part,  feigned  not  to  understand 
those  crocodile  tears.  Thus  far  hath  the  matter 
proceeded.  What  is  now  doing  at  Rome,  I  know 
not,  Charles  [Miltitz]  said,  there  had  not  for  a 
century  been  a  cause  which  had  given  more  trou- 
ble to  that  most  odious  herd-  of  cardinals,  and  of 
Romanizing  Romanists;  that  they  would  sooner 
give  ten  thousand  ducats,  than  allow  this  matter 
to  go  on  as  it  had  begun."  Here  we  perceive 
clearly,  that  Luther  had  no  confidence  in  the 
nuncio's  sincerity,  but  still  thought  it  best  to  treat 


M.  35.]  COLLISION  WITH   TETZEL.  287 

with  him  without  appearing  to  comprehend  his 
policy.  In  this  way,  Luther  would  either  induce 
him  to  eiFect  a  relaxation  of  the  severity  of  the 
pope,  or  make  it  appear  to  all  the  world  that  he 
himself  was  not  in  fault  if  the  reconciliation  was 
not  effected. 

The  following  letter  to  Staupitz,  written  Feb- 
ruary 20th,  will  serve  not  only  to  illustrate  the 
foregoing,  but  to  throw  light  upon  Luther's  pre- 
sent relations  to  Staupitz,  and  upon  the  view 
they  took  of  the  course  of  events.  "  Though 
you  are  far  from  me,  [at  Salzburg,  near  the  west- 
ern boundary  of  Austria,]  reverend  father,  and 
keep  silence,  not  writing  to  me  as  I  had  expected 
and  desired,  I  nevertheless  will  break  the  silence. 
I  and  all  others  are  desirous  to  see  you  here  in 
these  regions.  I  suppose  you  have  received  my 
Transactions,  that  is,  the  ire  and  indignation  of 
Rome.  God  hurries  and  forces  me  on  instead  of 
leading  me.  I  am  not  master  of  myself.  While 
I  desire  to  be  quiet,  I  am  driven  into  the  midst 
of  tumults.  Charles  Miltitz  has  seen  me  at  Al- 
tcnburg,  and  complained  that  I  had  drawn  all 
the  world  away  from  the  pope  unto  myself;  that 
he  had,  on  his  journey,  made  observation,  and 
found  that  scarcely  two  or  three  out  of  five  held 
with  the  Roman  party.  He  was  armed  with 
seventy  apostolical  briefs  for  the  purpose  of  car- 
rying me  captive  to  that  murderous  Jerusalem, 
that  Babylon  in  purple,  as  I  afterward  learned 
from  the  court  of  the  elector.  When  that  device 
was  given  up  in  despair,  he  undertook  to  per- 
suade me  to  retract,  and  thus  to  restore  what  I 


ogg  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1519. 

had  taken  away.  On  my  asking  to  be  instructed 
as  to  what  I  should  retract,  it  was  agreed  that 
the  cause  should  be  carried  before  certain  bishops. 
I  made  mention  of  the  Archbishop  of  Salzburg, 
Treves,  and  Freisingen.  At  evening  I  complied 
with  an  invitation  to  sup  with  him,  and  we  had 
a  pleasant  season  together,  and  when  we  parted, 
he  kissed  me.  I  made  as  though  I  did  not 
understand  this  Italian  dissimulation.  He  also 
summoned  and  censured  Tetzel.  Afterward,  at 
Leipsic,  he  convicted  him  of  receiving,  as  wages, 
ninety  florins  a  month,  besides  three  horsemen 
and  a  carriage,  and  all  his  charges  to  boot.  Tet- 
zel himself  hath  now  disappeared,  no  one,  save 
perhaps  the  fathers  of  his  order,  knowing  whither 
he  hath  gone.  Eck,  a  man  of  guile,  draweth  me, 
as  you  here  see  [from  his  theses,]  into  new  dis- 
putes. Thus  the  Lord  taketh  care  that  I  be  not 
idle.  But,  by  the  will  of  Christ,  this  [Leipsic] 
disputation  shall  turn  out  ill  for  those  Roman 
laws  and  customs  on  which  Eck  leaneth  for  sup- 
port. .  .  .  The  Leipsic  professors  have  given  their 
consent  to  have  the  disputation  with  Eck  held  in 
their  universit}^  and  accuse  me  of  rashness  in 
saying  that  they  refused,  and  ask  me  to  take 
back  what  I  said.  But  I  learned  with  certainty 
from  Duke  George  that  they  had  refused  him ; 
and  I  have  twice  replied  that  their  dean  had 
refused  me,  as  in  truth  he  did,  when  I  requested 
permission.  Thus  craftily  do  these  men  strive 
to  stifle  this  disputation,  but  Duke  George  urgeth 
it  forward." 

By  being  "  driven  on  and  kept  from  idleness," 


JE.  35.] 


COLLISION   WITH   TETZEL. 


289 


Luther  means  that  Eck's  propositions  and  chal- 
lenges frustrated  the  plans  of  Miltitz  for  effecting 
a  reconciliation.  For  if  the  papal  party  should 
renew  the  discussion,  Luther  was,  by  the  terms 
of  the  agreement,  left  free  to  reply.  Tetzel  did 
not  leave  Leipsic,  as  was  supposed,  but  secluded 
himself  there  after  his  disgrace,  and  remained  in 
the  cloister,  called  the  Paulinum,  till  his  death,  a 
few  months  after.  Luther  expresses  his  feelings, 
in  respect  to  that  humiliation  and  disgrace,  in 
another  letter  thus  :  "  I  am  sorry  that  Tetzel  is 
reduced  to  such  necessity  in  respect  to  his  safet}^ 
and  that  his  doings  have  been  exposed  to  the 
light,  I  wTould  much  rather,  if  it  were  possible, 
that,  by  a  reformation  on  his  part,  he  should 
escape  with  honour.  As  1  lost  nothing  by  his 
glory,  so  I  should  gain  nothing  by  his  ignominy. 
I  cannot  sufficiently  marvel  that  he  should  dare  to 
take  such  a  large  amount  of  money  from  poor  peo- 
ple for  his  own  use,  enough  to  support  a  bishop, 
nay,  an  apostle." 


L>5 


290 


LIFE   OF   LUTHER, 


[1519. 


CHAPTER  II. 


THE   LEIPSIC   DISPUTATION. 


SECTION  I. — Preliminary  Correspondence. 

PUBLIC  debate, 
held  from  June  27 
to  July  8,  1519, 
at  Leipsic,  between 
^yy^\  Eck  on  the  one  hand, 
and  Carlstadt  on  the 
other,  to  which  Lu- 
ther was,  with  some 
difficulty,  finally  ad- 
mitted, derives  its 
interest  partly  from 
the  topics  discussed — chiefly  the  liberty  of  the 
will,  the  power  of  the  pope  and  indulgences — and 
partly  from  the  scene  of  the  transactions,  and  the 
peculiar  relations  of  Leipsic  to  Wittenberg.  The 
Duchy  of  Saxony,  with  Duke  George  at  its  head, 
Dresden  for  its  capital,  and  Leipsic  as  its  chief 
seat  of  theological  learning,  was  strongly  papal, 
and  continued  to  be  so  for  twenty  years  from  this 
time,  or  till  1539.  The  Electorate  of  Saxony, 
belonging  to  the  other  line  of  Saxon  princes,  with 
Frederic,  cousin  of  George,  for  its  reigning  sove- 
reign, and  Wittenberg  for  its  capital  and  its  centre 
of  theological  influence,  was  the  head-quarters  of 
the  Reformation. 


M.  35.]  LEIPSIC   DISPUTATION.  291 

Eck  chose  Leipsic  as  the  place  for  holding  the 
disputation,  both  for  the  favour  which  he  expected 
there  from  the  sympathies  of  the  people  and  of 
the  judges,  and  for  the  glory  he  hoped  to  acquire 
from  the  university  and  the  court  of  George  by 
a  victory  over  the  two  champions  of  reform.  Eck 
was  perhaps  the  most  learned,  certainly  the  most 
celebrated  Catholic  theologian  of  Germany.  He 
was  then  Vice-chancellor  of  the  University  of  In- 
golstadt.  He  owed  his  great  reputation  princi- 
pally to  his  shrewdness  and  practised  art  as  a 
debater.  It  was  neither  greatness  of  mind,  nor 
depth  and  solidity  of  learning,  but  varied  know- 
ledge, self-possession  and  skill  in  studying  the 
passions  and  prejudices  of  men  and  turning  them 
effectively  to  his  account, — it  was  this  that  made 
him  a  formidable  antagonist.  And  in  this  he  suc- 
ceeded at  Leipsic,  though  those  who  could  esti- 
mate arguments  by  their  intrinsic  worth  gave  the 
victory  to  the  other  party. 

Eck,  as  it  appears  in  the  accounts  already  given 
of  him,  had  been,  for  some  little  time,  an  acquaint- 
ance and  personal  friend  to  Luther,  having  been 
introduced  to  him  by  Scheurl  of  Augsburg.  A 
little  sparring  between  them  had  occurred  in  the 
Obelisks,  or  notes  of  the  former,  on  the  ninety- 
five  Theses,  and  in  the  Asterisks,  or  reply  of  the 
latter.  But  at  Augsburg,  in  1518,  they  had  met 
on  friendly  terms ;  and  the  proposal  of  Luther 
that  a  disputation  should  be  held  between  Eck 
and  Carlstadl  on  the  subjects  embraced  in  cer- 
tain propositions  which  the  latter  had  recently 
published,  was  agreed  to,  and  Eck  was  allowed 


292  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1519. 

to  choose  between  Leipsic  and  Erfurt  as  the  place 
for  the  discussion.  But  when  Eck  came  to  pub- 
lish his  counter-propositions,  setting  forth  the 
points  which  he  was  to  maintain,  he  not  only 
put  himself  in  opposition  to  Carlstadt's  proposi- 
tions, but  also  to  Luther's  theses  and  other  writ- 
ings, thereby  covertly  drawing  Luther  also  into 
the  debate.  It  was  this  disingenuous  act  which 
discharged  Luther  from  the  obligations  he  had 
entered  into  with  Miltitz,  according  to  which  he 
was  to  remain  silent,  provided  his  opponents 
should  do  the  same.  The  breach  of  the  truce 
came,  therefore,  from  the  papal  side ;  and  Eck's 
intemperate  zeal  was  far  more  wounding  to  the 
feelings  of  Miltitz  than  to  those  of  Luther. 

In  the  letter  of  Feb.  2,  to  Egran,  quoted  above 
in  part,  is  the  following  paragraph :  "  Our  Eck, 
who  was  besought  by  me,  when  at  Augsburg,  to 
meet  Carlstadt  in  debate  at  Leipsic,  in  order  to 
bring  the  controversy  to  an  end,  hath  at  last  ac- 
cepted the  advice.  But  behold  the  character  of 
the  man,  of  what  sort  it  is.  He  hath  [in  his 
Propositions]  fallen  upon  my  theses,  and  vehe- 
mently assailed  them,  and  hath  passed  by  him 
[Carlstadt]  with  whom  he  is  in  controversy.  You 
would  think  he  was  playing  pranks  at  carnival. 
Therefore,  in  order  to  defend  what  I  have  said 
on  indulgences,  I  am  forced  to  enter  the  lists 
with  him.  He  is  a  pitiable  animalcula  of  fame." 
In  a  letter  of  congratulation  to  Lange,  on  the 
occasion  of  his  receiving  the  degree  of  doctor  of 
divinity,  written  Feb.  3,  Luther  observes:  "Our 
Eck  goeth  about  to  stir  up  a  new  war  against  me ; 


M.  35.]  LEirSIC   DISPUTATION.  293 

and  the  thing  which  I  have  long  meditated  will 
now,  with  the  favour  of  Christ,  be  put  in  execu- 
tion ;  that  is,  the  bringing  out  before  the  public 
some  work  directed  in  good  earnest  against  the 
hydras  of  Rome.  Hitherto  I  have  but  sported 
and  played  in  the  case,  though  my  adversaries 
grieve  dolefully  as  over  a  serious  and  insuffer- 
able matter."  To  Spalatin  he  writes,  under  date 
of  Feb.  7th,  "  Our  Eck,  an  insect  of  fame,  hath 
published  his  propositions  against  Carlstadt,  to 
be  debated  at  Lcipsic,  after  Easter.  This  per- 
verse man,  after  long  making  me  the  object  of 
his  hate,  hath  made  an  assault  both  upon  me  and 
my  writings.  While  he  nameth  one  antagonist, 
he  aimeth  his  arrows  at  another.  This  stupid 
sycophancy  of  his  doth  ill  please  me,  and  there- 
fore have  I  published  counter-propositions,  as  you 
will  see  in  the  accompanying  papers.  Eck  will, 
peradventure,  be  the  mean  of  turning  what  hath 
been  but  play  into  serious  work,  which  will  do 
poor  service  to  the  Roman  tyranny." 

That  the  reader  may  understand  what  other 
subjects  were,  at  this  period,  occupying  Luther's 
thoughts,  it  may  here  be  stated,  by  the  way, 
that  he  wrote,  according  to  promise,  a  very  sub- 
missive letter,  under  date  of  March  3d,  to  Pope 
Leo  X.,  in  which  he  made  great  concessions, — 
greater  than  one  would  suppose  possible  under 
such  circumstances.  A  few  days  previously,  he 
had  published  an  address  to  the  common  people, 
designed  to  conciliate  them  with  the  church  of 
Rome.  Referring  to  this  address,  in  a  letter  to 
Spalatin,  written  March  5th,  he  says:  "Twice, 


25* 


294  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1519. 

iny  clear    Spalatin,  have   you   requested   me    to 
speak  of  faith,  of  good  works,  and  of  obedience 
to  the  Roman  church,  in  my  Defence  which  was 
to  appear  in  German.     This  I  think  I  have  al- 
ready clone ;  but  it  was  published  before  your 
letter  was  written.     Never  was  it  my  purpose  to 
separate  from  the  apostolical  see  of  Rome.     I  am 
content  that  the  Roman  bishop  should  bear  any 
title,  even  that  of  lord,  if  he  please.     What  doth 
that  concern  me,  who  know  that  the  rule  of  the 
very  Turks    is    to    be  honoured,    and   submitted 
to,  because  it  is  an  existing  and  an  established 
power?     For  sure  I  am  that,  as  Peter  saith,  there 
is  no  power  but  by  the  will  of  God.     But  thus 
much  do  I  at  all  times  require,  on  the  ground  of 
my  faith  in  Christ,  namely,  that  they  wrest  not 
at  their  pleasure  and  corrupt  the  word  of  God. 
Let  the  Roman  decretals  but  leave  me  the  gos- 
pel pure  and  uncorrupt,  and  they  may  take  away 
all  else ;   I  will  not  move  a  hair.     What  more 
than  this  should  I,  or  can  I  do?     I,  then,  will, 
on  my  part,  strive  for  peace,  as  we  have  cove- 
nanted ;  and  will  go  about  no  new  thing.     The 
disputation  will,  I  hope,  be  nothing  else  but  a 
disputation,   and  be  listened  to  by  the  learned 
only,  [being  held  in  Latin;]  the  common  people 
may  employ  their  own  language."     These  state- 
ments serve  to  explain  why  Luther  went  so  far 
— undoubtedly  too  far — in  his  concessions,  and  to 
confirm  what   is    otherwise    abundantly   proved, 
namely,    that    he    desired    a   reformation    which 
should  consist  in  spirit  rather  than  in  forms,  in 
pious  feeling  rather  than  in  social  privileges  and 


M.  35.]  LEIPSIC   DISPUTATION.  295 

immunities.  In  respect  to  a  rupture  with  Rome, 
there  is  an  apparent  inconsistency  in  Luther  at 
this  time,  which  finds  its  explanation  in  the  fact, 
that  he  was  in  reality  the  subject  of  an  inward 
struggle  between  two  contending  forces,  drawing 
him  alternately  in  opposite  directions. 

The  preliminaries  to  the  disputation  were  ex- 
ceedingly complicated,  consisting  not  only  of  the 
printed  propositions  and  counter-propositions  al- 
ready mentioned,  but  of  Eck's  correspondence 
with  Duke  George  and  with  the  Leipsic  profes- 
sors ;  of  that  between  these  professors  and  Bishop 
Adolphus  of  Merseburg;  between  the  bishop  and 
Duke  George ;  between  the  latter  and  the  Elec- 
tor Frederic ;  between  Frederic  and  Luther,  and 
between  Luther  and  the  Leipsic  professors. 

In  reply  to  a  letter  of  Frederic's  secretary,  in 
which  the  terms  of  reconciliation,  as  proposed  by 
Miltitz,  were  alluded  to,  Luther  wrote  to  the 
elector  himself,  on  the  13th  of  March,  the  follow- 
ing, among  other  things :  "  God  knoweth  that  it 
wUs  my  solemn  purpose,  as  it  was  also  my  hope 
and  joy,  that  this  game,  so  far  as  in  me  lay, 
should  be  played  no  farther;  and  so  strict  was  I 
in  keeping  the  agreement  [made  with  Miltitz] 
that  I  gave  no  heed  to  the  answer  of  Prierias, 
though  I  had  good  cause  to  reply.  I  let  the  con- 
tempt and  contumely  of  my  adversaries  pass,  and, 
contrary  to  the  advice  of  my  friends,  kept  silence. 
The  agreement  was,  as  Charles  [Miltitz]  well 
knoweth,  that  I  was  to  hold  my  peace,  if  my 
adversaries  should  do  the  same.  But  now  Dr. 
Eck,  without  giving  me  any  warning,  hath  made 


296  LIFE   OF    LUTHER.  [1519. 

such  an  assault  upon  me,  that  it  is  plain  he 
seeketh  to  bring  both  me  and  the  whole  univer- 
sity into  discredit  and  disrepute;  and  many 
honest-minded  men  think  he  hath  been  suborned 
to  do  the  same.  I  looked  upon  it  as  wrong  to 
give  no  heed  to  an  assault  so  perfidious,  and  to 
allow  the  truth  to  be  forsaken  in  such  dishonour." 
The  elector  consented  that  Luther  should  take 
part  in  the  disputation,  if  Eck  would  really  debate 
with  him,  and  not  with  Carlstadt  alone.  The 
Leipsic  professors  and  the  Bishop  of  Merseburg 
made  very  extraordinary  efforts  to  prevent  the 
discussion.  The  letter  of  the  former  to  Luther 
on  the  subject  is  still  extant,  and  serves  to  throw 
a  clear  light  upon  their  relation  to  the  parties.  It 
is  dated  Leipsic,  February  19, 1519,  and  runs  thus : 
"  Not  many  days  ago,  dear  doctor,  while  we  were 
celebrating  Christinas,  the  excellent  John  Eck, 
doctor  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  wrote  to  his  illus- 
trious highness  Prince  George,  to  this  university 
and  to  the  doctors  of  divinity,  appointing  the 
theological  faculty  to  sit  in  judgment,  and  to  de- 
cide on  the  dispute  and  controversy  which  is  to 
ensue,  and  earnestly  requesting  that  we  would 
permit  him  to  debate  with  Carlstadt  in  our  cele- 
brated university.  .  .  .  Because  it  seemeth  to 
you  that  he  hath  [in  his  Propositions]  made  an 
assault  upon  you,  and  you  are  not  minded  to 
yield  unto  him,  you  have,  in  a  printed  document, 
challenged  him  in  turn  to  a  disputation.  We 
greatly  marvel  that,  contrary  to  our  veritable 
decision,  you  have  publicly  said,  that  we  refused 
his  request  in  respect  to  the  disputation,  [they 


JE.  35.]  LEIPSIC   DISPUTATION.  297 

having  granted  it  as  a  debate  between  Eck  and 
Carlstadt,  but  refused  it  if  Luther  was  to  be  a 
party.]  Contrariwise,  we  marvel  that  you  have 
given  out  that  such  a  disputation,  [in  which  Luther 
was  to  take  part,]  wdiereof  we  know  nothing,  would 
be  held  in  our  university,  you  having  received  no 
permission  [to  participate  in  the  debate]  either 
from  us,  or  from  our  illustrious  prince  and  gracious 
sovereign.  Therefore,  seeing  this  act  of  yours 
hath  the  appearance  of  lightness,  upon  which  you 
are  bound  to  look  with  abhorrence,  we  earnestly 
entreat  you  not  to  bring  us,  contrary  to  our  will, 
into  trouble,  [i.  c.  to  render  them  odious  to  the 
pope,  by  allowing  his  supremacy  to  be  made  a 
subject  of  debate  in  the  university;]  but,  if  it  be 
agreeable  to  you,  either  to  renounce  your  doc- 
trines, or  in  a  reply  to  us,  which  we  earnestly 
desire,  to  sound  a  retreat,  until  you  shall  obtain 
leave  from  us."  Duke  George  was  indignant  at 
this  opposition  to  a  disputation  to  which  he  had 
given  his  consent.  The  professors  said  they  were 
bound  to  the  pope,  and  wrere  moreover  prohibited 
by  their  superior,  the  Bishop  of  Merseburg.  The 
duke,  therefore,  addressed  a  letter  of  withering 
reproach  to  the  bishop,  which  has  been  preserved. 
After  expressing  his  "surprise  that  the  bishop 
should  set  up  an  opposition  to  the  custom  handed 
down  from  the  fathers,  of  making  free  inquiry 
after  the  truth  in  matters  of  religion."  and  saying, 
that  '"the  question  newly  started  deserved  to  be 
earnestly  considered  and  the  arguments  on  either 
side  carefully  weighed  ;  whether,  for  example,  as 
soon  as  the  price  dropped  into  the  box,  the  souls 


298  LIFE    OF    LUTHER.  [1519. 

of  the  dead  were  released  from  purgatory  and  as- 
cended to  heaven,  by  which  imposition  the  silly  peo- 
ple were  robbed  of  their  money,"  he  adds,  "it  ap- 
pears as  though  the  bishop  wished  to  show  favour 
to  useless,  bladder-puffed  persons,  who,  like  cow- 
ardly soldiers,  boast  of  their  courage  when  out  of 
the  conflict,  but  flee  as  soon  as  the  trumpet  is  blown." 
If  those  men,  who  glory  in  their  titles,  and  claim 
the  first  place  in  assemblies  and  feasts,  shall  show 
themselves  unwilling  to  earn  their  titles  by  de- 
fending and  maintaining  the  truth,  as  their  office 
requireth,  "it  would  be  cheaper  and  more  useful 
to  maintain  old  women  and  young  children,  who 
would  do  more  good,  and  be  more  obedient,  than 
■such  theologians.  Nay,  the  old  women  would  be 
of  some  service  by  their  spinning  and  sewing,  or 
at  least  they  could  give  pleasant  pastime  to  the 
people  by  their  voices."  He  closes  by  saying, 
that  if  the  professors  still  persist  in  their  refusal, 
he  will  issue  a  proclamation,  from  which  it  shaD 
be  known  before  God  and  all  the  world,  that  he 
desired  the  truth  to  be  brought  to  light,  but  that 
the  clergy,  in  their  lack  of  knowledge  and  skill, 
could  not  abide  a  discussion,  and  therefore  op- 
posed it.  The  Leipsic  professors  wrote  also  to 
the  bishop,  saying,  that  the  duke  commanded 
them  to  permit  the  disputation  to  be  held,  and 
that  the  bishop's  opposition  would  be  of  no  avail. 
The  bishop  replied  to  them,  that  he  had  not  with- 
out good  reason  prohibited  them  from  allowing 
the  debate ;  but  that  he  would,  nevertheless,  sub- 
mit to  the  will  of  the  duke. 

Eck  was  immediately  informed   both  by  the 


M.  35.]  LEIPSIC   DISrUTATION.  299 

duke  and  by  the  university  of  the  result,  and 
hastened  to  write  to  Luther  the  following,  dated 
Ingolstadt,  February  19  :  "That  the  learned  men 
of  the  community  should  refuse  the  burden  of 
hearing  our  debate,  was  very  grievous  to  me,  and 
I  hardly  knew  what  to  do.  But  at  length,  the 
most  gracious  prince,  Duke  George,  at  my  in- 
stance, hath  prevailed  on  the  university  to  yield 
their  assent,  as  I  this  day  learn  by  letters  from 
him,  from  the  university  and  the  [theological] 
faculty.  I  have  therefore  appointed  the  27th  clay 
of  June  for  the  beginning  of  the  disputation.  We 
shall,  howbeit,  meet  the  theological  faculty  on  the 
26th,  to  determine  who  shall  speak  first  in  the  dis- 
cussion. Since  that  Carlstadt  is  only  an  accessory 
of  yours,  and  you  the  principal,  through  whom 
those  dogmas,  which,  to  my  small  and  slender 
judgment,  appear  heretical  and  false,  have  been 
spread  through  Germany,  it  is  meet  that  you  should 
be  present,  and  stand  by  your  positions  and  impugn 
mine.  But  how  earnestly  do  I  desire  you  to 
change  your  mind,  and  show  yourself  obedient  in 
all  things  to  the  apostolical  see,  and  listen  to  Leo 
X.,  vicar  of  Christ,  not  seeking  for  singularity, 
but  descending  to  the  common  opinions  of  the 
doctors  of  the  church,  being  well  assured  that 
Christ  hath  not,  as  you  vainly  imagine,  left  his 
church  to  their  errors  for  four  centuries.  Ynu 
will  see  from  my  schedule  of  articles  for  debate, 
that  I  have  laid  down  propositions,  not  so  much 
againsl  Carlstadt  as  against  your  doctrines.  Fare- 
well, then,  my  Martin,  and  let  us  pray  for  each 
other  that  we  may  be  enlightened." 


300  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1519. 

Meanwhile,  Luther  was  active  as  a  negotiator, 
professor,  commentator,  student  of  Hebrew,  and 
popular  and  controversial  writer.  A  single  letter 
of  his,  addressed  to  Lange,  April  13,  is  all  that 
can  be  presented  on  these  various  topics  in  this 
connection.  In  this  we  see  the  living,  energetic 
and  cheerful  man,  whose  spirit  was  electrifying 
the  whole  continent  of  Europe. 

"I  rejoice  and  congratulate  you,  reverend  fa- 
ther, that  you  also  are  one  of  those  in  whom  the 
cross  of  Christ  worketh.  Be  of  good  courage ; 
this  is  the  way  in  which  one  goeth,  or  rather  is 
carried  to  heaven.  For  your  presents  I  give  you 
my  thanks.  But  the  reason  of  my  not  coming  to 
your  public  celebration,  [when  Lange  was  made 
doctor  of  divinity,]  you  already  know;  my  si- 
lence in  respect  to  it  is  not  a  fault  of  mine  so 
much  as  it  is  of  the  bad  state  of  the  roads,  which 
hinclereth  persons  from  going,  except  now  and 
then,  to  your  place.  That  Hebrew  teacher  whom 
you  recommend,  I  pray  you  send  hither  with  all 
possible  haste ;  the  more  so,  since  that  Bossen- 
stein  of  ours,  professedly  a  Christian,  but  in  effect 
nothing  else  but  a  Jew,  hath,  to  the  reproach  of 
our  university,  withdrawn  himself.  I  add,  as 
another  reason,  that  you  yourself  are  somewhat 
indebted  to  our  studies.  We  will  see  that  he  be 
honourably  supported  in  Christ,  and  received  on 
proper  terms,  both  because  we  all  ought  to  en- 
courage zealously  a  new  convert,  and  because  it  is 
our  duty  to  provide  a  suitable  support  for  each. 
Eckhathdetermined  upon  the  27th  of  June  for  our 
future  disputation.     It  will  be  between  him  and 


M.  35.]  LEIPSIC   DISPUTATION.  301 

me,  as  you  will  see  from  this  document.  For  Carl- 
stadt  will  not  debate  those  matters  with  him, 
partly  because  they  were  asserted  by  me,  and 
not  by  him,  and  partly  because  that  wily  sophist 
[Eck]  hath,  with  the  design  of  entrapping  him, 
started  the  question  concerning  the  power  of  the 
pope,  which  a  prebendary*  cannot  safely  debate ; 
and  thus  would,  without  combat  or  victory,  terrify 
the  latter  into  silence.  .  .  .  All  are  alarmed  for 
me  that  I  shall  not  come  off  well  with  my  twelfth 
proposition,  [in  which  the  supremacy  of  the  pope 
is  declared  to  be  a  modern  doctrine,  founded  on 
the  miserable  decretals  of  the  popes  themselves.] 
But  though  I  do  not  expect  to  catch  that  slippery, 
clamorous  and  haughty  sophist,  I  will,  with  the 
help  of  Christ,  make  good  my  own  declarations. 
They  were  made  in  their  present  form,  in  order 
to  give  me  occasion  to  bring  out  before  the  public 
the  trivialness  of  those  most  senseless  and  un- 
godly decretals  by  which  Christians  are  needlessly 
terrified ;  for  they  are  full  of  falsehoods,  sup- 
ported only  by  the  authority  of  the  church  of 
Rome.  Christ  will  strip  off  the  mask.  .  .  .  Mean- 
while, the  theologians  lacerate  me,  especially  that 
bull,  ox  [Professor  Oxenfurth,  of  Leipsic]  and 
ass,  who  knoweth  not  his  owner,  but  eateth  the 
straw.  They  cry  out  unto  the  people  of  Leipsic, 
not  to  join  the  new  heretics,  hoping  that  we  may 
be  avoided  on  account  of  the  hatred  of  the  peo- 
ple, and  from  fear  of  the  pope.     It  is  reported 


*  Carlstadt  was  a  canon,  supported  by  the  funds  of  the  colle- 
giate church  at  Wittcnburg. 

26 


302  LIFE   OF  LUTHER.  [1519. 

that  Tetzel  said,  when  he  learned  that  the  de- 
bate was  to  be  held,  '  The  devil  is  in  it.'  .  .  .  Car- 
dinal Cajetan,  who  formerly  wrote  silly  things 
about  me  to  our  illustrious  prince,  hath  now  writ- 
ten like  a  madman.  I  rejoice  to  see  this  Italian 
stolidity  made  known  to  our  laymen. 

"Frobenius,  [the  celebrated  printer  and  book- 
seller,] of  Bale,  hath  written  me,  highly  extolling 
my  freedom  of  speech,  and  saying,  his  Paris 
friends  have  written  to  him,  that  my  works  are 
acceptable  to  many  persons  there,  and  that  they 
are  read  by  the  doctors  of  the  Sorbonne.  Fur- 
thermore,  he  inform eth  me  that  the  copies  [print 
eel  by  him]  are  all  distributed  and  spread  through 
out  Italy,  Spain,  England,  France  and  the  Nether 
lands.  I  rejoice  that  the  truth,  though  spoken  in 
a  barbarous  and  unlearned  manner,  findeth  such 
favour.  I  send  you  'The  Wagon'  by  Carlstadt,* 
which  showeth  forth  the  folly  of  the  theologians. 
There  is  a  tumultuous  opposition  to  it  in  Leipsic. 
One  preacher  tore  it  in  pieces  with  his  hands  in 
the  pulpit.  Another  examined  the  young  people 
when  they  came  to  the  confessional  whether 
they  indulged  in  laughter  at  the  'Wagon,'  or  kept 
about  them  any  of  Martin's  tracts.  If  they 
pleaded  guilty,  they  were  punished  with  severe 
penalties.  So  Andrew  Camitian  writeth  to  me. 
Behold  what  darkness,  what  madness !  These  are 
theologians  !  I  think  you  have  already  received 
the  beginning  of  my  Commentary  on  the  Psalms. 

*  A  print  of  two  vehicles,  the  one  going  the  true  and  straight 
•way  to  heaven,  the  other  the  false  and  tortuous  way  of  the  scholas- 
tic theologians. 


&.  35.]  LEIPSIC   DISPUTATION.  303 

I  send  }rou  another  copy,  whereby  you  can  cor- 
rect yours.  You  see  that  our  Emser  [Luther's 
opponent  at  Leipsic,  but  in  this  case  printer  or 
proof-reader]  errs  even  when  printing  the  truth. 
I  send  you  the  [Hebrew]  Grammar  of  Kimchi, 
until  you  can  obtain  another.  I  am  also  publish- 
ing a  Commentary  on  the  Galatians  at  Leipsic. 
If  two  sermons  of  mine  have  come  into  your 
hands,  the  one  in  Latin,  on  a  Two-fold  Righteous- 
ness, the  other  in  German,  on  Matrimony,  let  jus- 
tice be  done  me.  They  were  taken  surreptitiously 
and  published  without  my  knowledge.  ...  I  also 
send  you  the  Lord's  Prayer  revised.  .  .  .  Have 
you  seen  my  little  works  against  Silvester  [Prie- 
rias,]  published  at  Bale  ? — that  in  the  title-page 
they  have,  rather  by  design  than  mistake,  called 
him  magirum  PaMii  [cook  of  the  Palace]  instead 
of  magistrum  Palatii  [master  of  the  Palace ;]  and 
that  many  other  ludicrous  typographical  errors 
are  made  in  the  margin  ?  It  is  reported  that  Car- 
dinal Cajetan  is  put  in  prison  at  Mainz  by  the 
ministers  of  Charles  [V.]  of  Spain,  for  using  all 
his  authority  in  favour  of  the  faction  of  the 
French  king.  Philip  [Melancthon]  and  I  have 
written  to  Erasmus.  Here  you  have  every  thing 
you  asked  for.  The  reverend  vicar  [Staupitz] 
bath  quite  forgotten  me,  so  that  he  doth  not  write 
al  all.  Kindly  salute  Father  Usingen,  and  also 
John  N.ithin,  [formerly  Luther's  bitter  enemy.] 
Finally,  I  put  you  in  mind  of  that  Hebrew 
teacher,  that  we  may  help  those  excellent  young 
men  who  are  prosperously  studying  theology,  and 
burning  with  a  love  of  good  learning.     Farewell, 


304  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1519. 

3rou  and  jour  cross,  [some  trouble  of  which  Lange 
had  complained,]  if  it  be  the  will  of  Christ." 

As,  on  the  one  hand,  we  must  keep  in  mind  the 
buoyancy  of  Luther's  spirit,  which  gave  a  certain 
easy  play  to  his  great  and  varied  activity,  so,  on 
the  other  hand,  we  must  never  forget  the  gravity 
and  religious  earnestness  which  lay  beneath  all 
this,  as  the  deep  ocean  lies  beneath  the  play  of  its 
waves;  and  the  great  fears  and  anxieties  which 
never  ceased  to  agitate  the  minds  of  his  truest 
and  firmest  friends.  Like  every  heroic  man  in 
the  crisis  of  his  affairs,  he  was  left  alone,  to  sus- 
tain his  courage  from  his  confidence  in  God,  in 
truth  and  the  right,  and  from  his  willingness  to 
perish,  if  need  be,  and  leave  behind  him  a  mar- 
tyr's testimony  for  the  benefit  and  instruction  of 
coming  generations.  Nor  this  alone ;  he  was 
obliged  to  sustain  his  friends  and  supporters  by 
infusing  into  them  his  own  spirit. 

A  letter  of  his,  written  some  time  in  May  to 
Spaktin,  will  illustrate  these  remarks.  He  writes 
thus  :  "  I  beseech  you,  my  dear  Spalatin,  yield 
not  unduly  to  fear,  nor  utterly  slay  your  heart 
with  human  cogitations.  Know  that,  unless  Christ 
moved  me  on  and  my  affairs,  I  should  have  de- 
stroyed myself  even  in  my  first  Disputation  on 
Indulgences :  then  in  my  sermon  on  the  subject 
in  the  vernacular  tongue ;  later  in  my  Proofs  and 
Illustrations  and  in  my  reply  to  Silvester ;  and, 
last  of  all,  in  my  Account  of  the  Transactions  at 
Augsburg,  and  especially  in  my  journey  thither. 
For  what  mortal  did  not  cither  fear  or  hope  that 
any  one  of  these  perils   alone  would  prove    my 


M.  35.]  LEIPSIC   DISPUTATION.  305 

ruin  ?  Finally,  Olsnitzer  hath  lately  written  from 
the  city  to  the  chancellor  of  our  Duke  of  Pome- 
rania  that  I  have  so  stirred  up  all  Rome  by  my 
Proofs  and  my  Dialogue  [Reply  to  Prierias]  that 
they  know  not  how  to  restore  quiet.  Yet  they 
have  determined  to  assail  me,  not  by  the  way  of 
the  law,  but  by  Italian  practices,"  (these  are  his 
words.)  By  that  I  understand  poisoning  or  assas- 
sinating. 

"Many  things  which,  if  I  were  elsewhere,  I 
should  pour  forth  against  Rome,  or  rather  Baby- 
lon, that  devastator  of  the  Scriptures  and  of  the 
church,  I  repress  and  restrain,  for  the  sake  of  the 
elector  and  of  the  university.  The  truth  of  Holy 
Writ  and  of  the  church  cannot,  my  dear  Spalatin,  be 
discussed  without  offending  this  wild  beast.  You 
must  not,  therefore,  expect  me  to  be  unmolested 
or  secure  unless  I  renounce  theology  altogether. 
Let  my  friends  then  think  I  am  beside  myself. 
This  matter,  if  it  be  of  God,  shall  not  have  an 
end,  except  that,  as  the  disciples  and  friends  of 
Christ  forsook  him,  so  all  my  friends  forsake  me  ; 
and  the  truth  too, — which  saves  with  its  own 
right  hand,  not  mine,  nor  yours,  nor  that  of  any 
other  man, — shall  be  left  to  itself  alone  ;  and  that 
time  I  have  been  expecting  from  the  beginning. 
That  this  twelfth  proposition  was  extorted  from 
me  by  Eck,  and  that  the  pope  will  have  plenty  of 
patrons  in  the  approaching  disputation,  ought  not, 
I  think,  to  appear  so  evil,  especially  if  we  remem- 
ber the  license  given  to  such  disputations.  In 
fine,  if /perish,  nothing  will  perish  with  me.  By 
the  grace  of  God,  the  Wittenbergers  have  made 

■20* 


306  LIFE   OF  LUTHER.  [1519. 

such  proficiency  that  they  do  not  need  me  any 
longer.  But  what  shall  I  say  ?  I  am  unhappy, 
because  I  fear  I  am  not  worthy  to  suffer  and  be 
put  to  death  for  such  a  cause.  That  felicity  will 
be  reserved  for  better  men,  not  for  such  a  vile 
sinner  as  I  am.  I  have  told  you  that  I  am  at  all 
times  ready  to  withdraw,  if  my  tarrying  here 
seem  to  draw  the  illustrious  prince  into  any  dan- 
ger. Death  will  certainly  come  at  some  time. 
Still,  in  the  Apology  already  published  in  Ger- 
many, I  have  sufficiently  flattered  the  Roman 
church  and  pontiff,  if  that  can  any  thing  avail." 

To  quiet  Spalatin,  he  was  obliged  to  lay  before 
him  the  plan  of  his  part  of  the  discussion,  and 
specify  the  particular  arguments  by  which  he 
should  fortify  himself  in  respect  to  the  twelfth 
proposition  on  the  supremacy  of  the  pope.  "  I 
pray  you,"  he  says  somewhat  impatiently,  "  per- 
mit us  to  debate  the  matter,  and  be  not  of  that 
class  of  men  who,  not  understanding  the  counsels 
of  God,  immediately  despair  for  that  they  do 
not  see  by  their  own  counsels  how  a  thing  can  be 
accomplished.  ...  Do  not  ask  that  I  reveal  my 
whole  plan,  which  would  be  but  destroying  it,  but 
rather  pray  that  Christ  may  make  us  seek  his 
glory." 

Before  this  disputation  came  on,  Luther  re- 
ceived, through  the  Bishop  of  Brandenburg,  a 
condemnatory  document,  drawn  up  by  the  Fran- 
ciscan monks  of  Saxony,  at  their  late  meeting  in 
Juterbok,  in  which  they  pointed  out  fifteen  al- 
leged errors  of  Luther.  These  Minorite  brethren 
of  the  "  stricter  observance,"  as  they  were  called, 


M.  35.]  LEIPSIC   DISPUTATION.  307 

and  who  vowed  ignorance  as  one  of  their  virtues, 
Luther  exposed  in  his  brief  but  terrible  reply,  as 
having  poorly  observed  the  rules  of  Christ  in  not 
admonishing  a  brother  privately  before  publicly 
condemning  him,  but  as  having  given  good  proof 
that  they  had  sacredly  kept  the  vow  of  ignorance. 
"  But,  not  to  return  evil  for  evil,"  he  adds,  "  I  will 
give  you  your  choice,  either  to  retract  your  rash 
declarations  and  restore  to  me  my  good  name,  or 
let  me  go  forward  and  publish  your  document 
with  notes  setting  forth  your  ignorance,  which 
will  not  turn  out  for  the  honour  of  }rour  order." 
After  refuting  their  slanderous  declarations,  he 
closes  by  saying,  "  I  await  }rour  speedy  answer, 
that  I  may  know  whether  you  choose  to  incline 
your  necks,  or  to  hold  them  aloft  and  set  your- 
selves against  the  truth.  Be  assured  I  will  treat 
you  nobly  and  show  unto  all  men  your  wonderful 
ignorance.  Fare  ye  well,  and  the  Lord  give  you 
to  be  wise  and  to  will  what  is  right.  If  you  wish 
to  be  friends,  I  will  be  friendly;  but  if  not,  do 
what  you  have  to  do,  and,  believe  me,  I  will  not 
be  lacking  to  my  name  and  to  the  word  of  Christ." 
The  Franciscans  wisely  preferred  peace,  and  kept 
silence. 

On  the  16th  of  May,  Luther  writes  both  to 
Spal.it in  and  to  Lange  respecting  Miltitz.  In  the 
letter  to  the  latter  he  says:  "Charles  Miltitz  hath 
cited  me  to  Coblentz  to  appear  before  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Treves,  in  the  presence  of  the  legate 
Cajetan.  Sweet  creature !  He  confesseth  that 
he  hath  not  yet  received  any  authority  from 
Borne,  and  thinketh  me  stupid  enough  to  come, 


308  LIFE  OF  LUTHER.  [1519. 

though  cited  only  by  his  rashness.  Yon  see  that 
everywhere,  and  from  every  quarter,  and  in  every 
manner,  they  seek  my  life."  To  the  former  he 
says  :  "  That  ridiculous  block  of  a  Miltitz  [notice 
the  prudence  with  which  he  always  speaks  to 
Spalatin]  confesseth  that  he  hath  not  yet  received 
any  command  from  Rome,  and  yet  he  citeth  me. 
He  citeth  me,  not  the  archbishop;  and  then  I 
must  appear  before  the  cardinal !  Are  not  the 
men  insane  ?"  In  this  last  letter  he  complains  of 
the  injustice  and  duplicity  of  the  Duke  of  Saxo- 
ny, saying  :  "  Duke  George  hath  twice  replied  to 
me,  and  will  not  admit  me  to  the  disputation, 
though  I  have  given  him  assurance  that  Eck  com- 
pelleth  me,  both  in  his  private  letters  and  in  his 
published  propositions,  to  reply  to  him.  Why 
should  he  exact  so  much  of  me  as  to  require  that 
Eck  should  write  in  my  behalf,  when  he  did  not 
refuse  to  yield  to  Eck,  nor  require  any  thing  of 
Carlstadt  ?  How  monstrous  !  I  send  you  both 
of  his  letters.  I  am  now  writing  to  him  a  third 
time.  Tell  me,  I  pray  you,  what  you  think  it 
best  to  do." 

In  the  midst  of  all  this  turmoil,  the  studies  of 
the  University  of  Wittenberg  were  moving  briskly 
on,  and  the  number  of  students  rapidly  increas- 
ing. Luther  requests  Spalatin,  May  22d,  before 
taking  his  journey  with  the  elector,  to  ascertain 
the  views  of  the  latter  in  respect  to  the  Hebrew 
professorship.  Cellarius,  professor  of  Hebrew  at 
Heidelberg,  was  at  Leipsic,  waiting  for  an  answer 
from  Luther,  ready  to  accept  the  place,  if  the 
elector  would  give  him  a  suitable  salary.     "A 


M.  35.]        COURSE  OF  THE  DEBATE.  •         309 

great  number  of  students,"  he  continues,  "and 
notable  ones,  too,  are  flowing  together  here.  .  .  . 
Our  town  will  scarcely  hold  them,  for  lack  of 
houses  to  serve  them." 

Section    II. —  Course  of  the  Debate. 

At  length  the  time  for  the  debate  drew  near. 
The  duke  ordered  his  palace,  called  the  Pleissen- 
burg,  to  be  prepared  for  the  accommodation  of  the 
assembly.  In  the  great  hall  he  caused  two  desks, 
facing  each  other,  to  be  erected  for  the  disputants, 
the  one  adorned  with  a  picture  of  St.  Martin, 
the  other  with  a  picture  of  St.  George.  Seats 
for  the  audience  and  tables  for  the  clerks  were 
also  prepared  and  embellished  with  tapestry.  Eck 
arrived  on  the  22d  of  June,  the  day  before  the 
festival  of  Corpus  Christ!,  and  took  part  in  the 
celebration,  joining  the  procession,  pompously  ar- 
rayed in  a  mass  vestment  and  chasuble.  Several 
monks  and  theologians  from  Ingolstadt  and  Erfurt 
accompanied  him  to  Leipsic.  He  was  treated 
with  great  distinction  by  the  theological  faculty 
and  the  city  council,  with  whom  he  feasted  lustily. 
In  a  letter,  he  highly  commended  their  hospitality, 
as  well  as  the  beauty  of  the  Leipsic  ladies,  for 
whom  Charles  V.  said  he  had  too  great  a  fondness. 
On  Friday,  the  24th,  the  day  after  the  festival, 
the  Wittenbergers  arrived, — a  numerous  company. 
In  the  first  carriage  sat  Carlstadt,  as  the  chief 
disputant;  in  the  second,  Prince  Barnim  of  Pome- 
ran  ia,  then  a  student,  and  also,  according  to  ancient 
usage,  rector  of  the  university;  in  the  third,  Luther 
and  Melancthon.    About  two  hundred  students  on 


310  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1519. 

foot,  with  spears  and  halberds,  according  to  Eck's 
statement,  accompanied  their  professors.  Lange, 
Amsdorf,  and  several  doctors  of  laws  and  masters, 
were  in  the  company.  As  they  were  near  the 
Grimma  gate  of  the  city  of  Leipsic,  and  opposite 
the  Panliniim,  where  Tetzel  then  was,  Carlstadt 
had  the  misfortune  to  have  one  of  the  wheels  of 
his  carriage  break,  and  to  be  thrown  out,  which 
some  interpreted  as  an  ill  omen.  The  duke  from 
Dresden,  and  Emser,  and  the  three  commissaries 
of  the  duke,  Pflug,  Riihel,  and  Wiedebach,  were 
present  as  early  as  Saturday.  Emser  called  on 
the  masters  in  the  university  and  urged  them  to 
stand  by  Eck,  and  escort  him  to  the  palace  on 
Sunday,  that  a  favourable  impression  might  be 
made  upon  the  duke.  Here  the  commissaries  and 
the  parties,  after  much  discussion,  came  to  an  un- 
derstanding in  respect  to  the  manner  of  procedure 
in  the  debate.  Each  of  the  parties  was  to  choose 
a  secretary.  Luther  chose  J.  Agricola  of  Eisle- 
ben;  Eck  chose  J.  Poliander,  who,  by  the  way, 
was  converted  to  Luther's  views  by  the  debate, 
and  went  directly  to  Wittenberg.  More  than 
thirty  others  also  took  notes  of  the  discussion. 
From  the  decision,  to  be  made  by  certain  uni- 
versities, either  party  might  appeal  to  a  general 
council. 

On  Monday  morning,  (June  27th,)  the  time  set 
for  the  commencement  of  the  disputation,  a  civic 
guard  was  sent,  with  music  and  flags,  to  the  palace 
Pleissenburg  to  preserve  order.  At  seven  o'clock 
in  the  morning,  the  disputants  met  in  the  Princes' 
college,  where  an  address  was  made  by  Pistoris, 


M.  35.]        COURSE  OF  THE  DEBATE.  311 

of  the  law  faculty.  Thence  the  assembly  moved 
in  procession,  two  by  two,  a  Wittenberg  and  a 
Leipsic  master  together,  quite  across  the  city  from 
north  to  south  to  St.  Thomas's  church,  where  the 
duke  and  two  princes  were  awaiting  them.  Here 
mass  was  held,  and  the  assembly  proceeded  to  the 
palace,  (a  few  rods  to  the  east,)  where  Mosellanus, 
the  professor  of  Greek,  and  the  friend  of  Melanc- 
thon  and  Luther,  delivered  an  oration  in  the  name 
of  the  duke,  admonishing  the  disputants  to  be 
gentle  and  courteous,  and  to  seek  for  truth  rather 
than  victory.  After  singing  the  Veni  Sancti 
Spiritus,  (Come,  Holy  Spirit,)  the  meeting  was 
adjourned  for  dinner.  In  the  afternoon,  after 
both  parties  had  promised  to  debate  with  sin- 
cerity and  love, — Luther  meanwhile  expressing 
his  astonishment  that  of  the  Dominicans,  (with 
whom  the  whole  affair  of  indulgences  arose,)  none 
were  present  to  take  part, — Eck  and  Carlstadt 
commenced  the  debate  on  free-will,  which  lasted 
a  week,  or  till  July  4.  Never  was  there  a  more 
unequal  match;  Carlstadt,  learned,  modest,  slow, 
confined  to  notes,  and  opening  books  and  giving 
his  authorities  with  exactness;  Eck,  self-pos- 
sessed, quick  of  memory,  imposing,  but  loose, 
boisterous  and  ostentatious.  The  former  accused 
the  latter  of  quoting  falsely,  the  latter  laughed  al 
the  poor  memory  and  tediousness  of  the  former. 
From  the  4th  of  July,  the  day  of  Tetzel's  death, 
to  the  8th,  Luther  debated  with  Eck  on  the  su- 
premacy of  the  pope,  and  now  the  discussion 
grew  animated,  two  practised  debaters  having 
come    together,   each   of  whom  was  accustomed 


312  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1519. 

always  to  bear  off  the  palm.  Luther  proposed 
to  close  the  discussion  there,  but  the  duke  urged 
him  to  go  on  and  debate  on  the  subjects  of  indul- 
gences, purgatory  and  the  power  of  the  keys,  in 
which  Eck  hardly  made  a  show  of  resistance. 
He  wished  to  return  to  his  first  antagonist,  and 
consequently  resumed  the  discussion  with  Carl- 
stadt  on  the  15th.  But  as  the  duke  needed  his 
palace,  the  disputation  was  closed,  on  the  16th, 
by  an  oration  from  a  Dr.  Lange,  of  Leipsic,  in 
which  he  meted  out  to  each  disputant  his  share 
of  praise ;  the  most  to  Luther,  not  a  little  to  Eck, 
and  to  Carls tadt  what  was  his  due.  Eck  and  his 
Leipsic  friends  claimed  the  victory;  and  if  popular 
favour  is  to  be  the  standard  of  judgment,  the  claim 
must  be  admitted.  But  learned  men  decided  other- 
wise. Let  us  now  hear  Luther's  account  of  the 
matter,  as  related  by  him  in  a  letter  to  Spalatin, 
dated  July  20,  1519. 

"  Concerning  that  famous  debate,  I  would  have 
written  you  a  long  time  ago,  had  I  been  able.  The 
matter  is  thus :  There  are  certain  men  at  Leipsic, 
not  over  candid  and  upright,  who  triumph  with 
Eck;  and  have,  by  their  garrulity  and  vaunting, 
got  a  certain  kind  of  glory.  But  the  facts  them- 
selves will,  in  due  time,  speak  and  bring  all  things 
to  light.  The  selfsame  hour  that  we  arrived  in 
Leipsic,  before  we  had  alighted  from  our  carriages, 
a  prohibition  of  the  proceedings  by  the  Bishop  of 
Merseburg  was  posted  up,  on  the  doors  of  the 
churches.  But,  by  order  of  the  senate,  the  indi- 
vidual who  posted  it  up  was  sent  to  the  dungeon 
for  doing  it  without  their  knowledge.      Accom- 


&.  35.]         COURSE  OF  THE  DEBATE.         313 

plishing  nothing  in  this  way,  these  men  next 
resorted  to  another  sleight,  and,  at  Eck's  request, 
laboured  hard  with  Carlstadt  privately  to  induce 
him  to  consent  that  the  discussion  proceed  with- 
out any  secretaries  to  record  the  arguments.  For 
he  hoped  to  succeed,  as  he  had  long  been  accus- 
tomed to  do,  by  dint  of  voice  and  gesticulation. 
But  Carlstadt  would  not  consent.  As  that  con- 
dition had  been  agreed  upon,  he  said  he  should 
hold  them  to  their  stipulation.  ...  At  length,  to 
make  the  matter  sure,  he  was  under  the  necessity 
of  consenting  that  the  records  be  not  published 
until  the  judges  shall  have  given  in  their  decision. 
A  new  dispute  arose  concerning  the  selection  of 
the  judges;  and  Carlstadt  found  it  necessary  to 
yield  so  far  as  to  allow  the  judges  to  be  appointed 
after  the  debate  should  be  ended.  Otherwise  the 
opposite  party  said  they  should  not  proceed.  Thus 
were  we  brought  into  a  dilemma,  and  must  either 
stop  the  proceedings  or  submit  to  partial  judges. 
So  you  see  the  paltry  practices  whereby  they 
wrested  from  us  the  promised  freedom  of  dis- 
cussion. For  we  know  full  well  that  the  univer- 
sities and  the  Roman  pontiff  will  either  not 
determine  the  question  at  all,  or  else  they  will 
decide  it  against  us;  and  that  is  what  our  oppo- 
nents desired. 

"The  next  day  I  was  called  aside,  and  the  same 
thing  was  propounded  unto  me.  But,  not  trust- 
ing the  pope,  and  being,  moreover,  dissuaded  by 
my  friends,  I  refused  all  these  conditions.  Then 
they  proposed  to  leave  out  the  pope,  and  named 
other  universities.     1  still  demanded  the  promised 


314  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1519. 

freedom,  [in  respect  to  the  disputation,]  and  since 
they  would  not  allow  it,  I  refused  to  take  part 
in  the  discussion.  Now  it  was  rumoured  abroad 
that  I  was  afraid  to  debate,  and,  what  was  yet 
more  untrue,  that  I  would  not  consent  to  have 
any  judges.  These  things  were  odiously  and 
maliciously  repeated,  till  all  our  friends  were 
carried  away  with  the  rest,  and  our  university 
was  in  danger  of  being  brought  into  reproach.  I 
finally  yielded  to  the  advice  of  friends,  and  ac- 
cepted, though  not  without  indignation,  the  pro- 
posals ;  with  this  condition,  however,  that  I  might 
appeal  from  the  decision ;  that  my  cause  should 
not  be  prejudged,  and  that  the  court  of  Rome 
should  not  be  included  among  the  judges. 

"  At  first  the  disputation  was  begun  with  Carl- 
stadt,  and  continued  for  a  week,  on  the  subject 
of  the  freedom  of  the  will.  He  brought  forward 
his  authorities,  and,  with  God's  help,  he  stated 
and  maintained  his  arguments  exceedingly  well 
and  abundantly.  When  it  came  his  turn  to  be 
assailant,  Eck  refused  [to  be  respondent,]  unless 
Carlstadt  would  promise  to  leave  his  books  at 
home.  He  had  produced  them  in  order  to  prove 
that  his  quotations  from  the  Scriptures  and  from 
the  Fathers  were  correct,  and  that  he  did  not 
wrest  them,  as  Eck  was  found  to  do.  Here  a 
dispute  arose,  and  it  was  finally  determined  that 
the  books  should  be  left  at  home.  But  who  doth 
not  perceive,  that,  if  they  were  in  quest  of  truth, 
they  would  desire  rather  to  have  all  the  books  at 
hand  ?  Never  did  envy  and  ambition  show  them- 
selves more   openly.     At  the  close,  the  double- 


JE.  35.]        COURSE  OF  THE  DEBATE.  315 

faced  man  conceded  every  tiling,  though  at  first 
he  had  contended  earnestly  to  the  contrary.  lie 
feigned  that  he  agreed  in  every  thing  perfectly, 
glorying  that  he  had  brought  Carlstadt  over  to 
his  side ! 

"  The  second  week  he  disputed  with  me.  First 
we  closed  with  each  other  right  earnestly  con- 
cerning the  primacy  of  the  Roman  pontiff  .  .  . 
Then,  toward  the  end,  great  stress  was  laid  by 
Eck  upon  the  Council  of  Constance,  which  con- 
demned the  opinion  of  Huss,  namely,  that  the 
papacy  was  the  creature  of  the  emperor.  .  .  .  He 
also  alleged  that  I  was  a  heretic,  and  an  abettor 
of  the  Bohemian  doctrines.  This  sophist  is  as 
impudent  as  he  is  bold.  With  that  accusation, 
the  people  of  Leipsic  were  marvellously  pleased, 
more  than  with  the  disputation  itself.  On  my 
part,  I  brought  forward  the  case  of  the  Greek 
church  for  a  period  of  a  thousand  years,  and  of 
the  early  fathers,  none  of  whom  were  ever  sub- 
ject to  the  Roman  pontiff.  I  did  not  deny,  how- 
ever, that  he  was  first  in  honour.  I  declared 
openly,  and  proved  by  direct  and  clear  passages, 
that  several  articles,  taught  by  Augustine,  Paul, 
and  by  Christ  himself,  had  been  condemned.  .  .  . 

"  The  third  week  we  disputed  touching  repent- 
ance, purgatory,  indulgences,  and  the  power  of  ab- 
solution by  the  priest.  For  he  was  not  minded 
to  debate  with  Carlstadt,  but  directed  his  aim  only 
at  me.  Indulgences  foil  to  the  ground  at  once,  as 
Eck  gave  up  almost  every  thing.  Though  they 
were  to  have  been  the  principal  subject  of  debate, 
he  attempted  to  maintain  them  only  by  way  of 


316  LIFE   OF   LUTHEK.  [1519. 

sport  and  of  jest.  It  is  reported  that  he  said, 
if  I  had  not  denied  the  power  of  the  pope,  he 
could  easily  have  agreed  with  me  in  every  thing. 
.  .  .  He  maintained  one  opinion  in  the  hall  and 
gave  out  another  in  the  church;  and,  when  he 
was  questioned  by  Carlstadt,  why  he  was  so 
changeable  in  his  teachings,  he  replied  without 
shame,  that  what  is  here  discussed  ought  not  to 
be  taught  unto  the  people. 

"  When  I  was  through  with  him,  he  took  up 
the  debate  anew  with  Carlstadt  for  the  last  three 
days,  in  which  he  again  yielded  up  and  consented 
to  every  thing.  Thus,  in  the  whole  disputation, 
nothing  hath  been  worthily  discussed,  save  my 
twelfth  proposition.  The  people  of  Leipsic  nei- 
ther saluted  us,  nor  visited  us ;  but  treated  us  as 
enemies ;  while  they  thronged  about  Eck,  clung 
fast  to  him,  feasted  with  him,  invited  him  to 
their  houses,  made  him  presents  of  a  tunic  and 
a  camlet  robe,  and  rode  out  with  him.  To  be 
short,  they  did  whatsoever  they  could  to  injure 
us.  .  .  .  Those  who  were  friendly  to  us  came  to 
us  privately.  But  Auerbach,  a  man  of  excellent 
genius,  and  the  younger  Pistoris,  invited  me  to 
their  houses.  Duke  George  himself  invited  all 
three  of  us  to  his  residence  together." 

It  is  here  interesting  to  perceive  that  Luther 
was  a  guest  with  that  very  Auerbach  whose  cel- 
lar has  become  so  celebrated  in  connection  with 
the  name  of  Faust. 

The  Leipsic  disputation  was  chiefly  useful  to 
the  cause  of  the  Reformation,  in  opening  the  eyes 
of  Luther  himself  on  the  whole  subject  of  the 


M.  35.]        COURSE  OF  THE  DEBATE.  317 

authority  of  the  Roman  pontiff,  and  in  drawing 
public  attention  to  this  point.  It  led  to  the  over- 
throw of  another  pillar  of  the  papacy.  A  few 
individuals  of  the  papal  party  were  won  to  the 
side  of  Luther ;  but  most  of  the  people  of  Leip- 
sic,  and  of  the  duke's  dominions,  manifested,  from 
this  time,  a  deadlier  hatred  than  ever  to  Luther's 
doctrines.  Many  of  the  vexations  which  Luther 
experienced  for  a  year  or  two  thereafter,  were 
caused  by  men  who  were  under  the  Leipsic  in- 
fluence. 

Of  the  many  broils  and  disputes  which  grew 
out  of  this  debate,  as  they  were  mostly  of  a  per- 
sonal character,  no  particular  account  can  be  given 
in  a  brief  biography.  They  are  described  in  most 
of  the  histories  of  the  Reformation,  and  to  them 
the  reader  is  referred.  These  disputes  were  with 
Emser,  of  the  court  of  Dresden,  with  Duke  George, 
with  the  Bishop  of  Meissen,  with  the  Francis- 
can monk  Alveld,  and  with  men  at  Cologne  and 
at  Rome.  Luther  was  almost  everywhere  de- 
nounced as  a  heretic.  Even  at  the  court  of  the 
elector,  there  was  much  displeasure  with  him. 
In  these  circumstances,  the  Prince  of  Dessau. 
and  afterward  the  Franconian  knight  Sehaum- 
burg,  and  Francis  von  Sickingen,  through  Von 
lint  ten,  offered  him  protection,  and  invited  him 
to  their  courts  or  castles.  Luther  wrote  concilia- 
tory letters  to  the  new  emperor,  Charles  V.,  to 
the  Archbishop  of  Mainz,  and  to  the  Bishop  of 
Mcrscburg.  In  Nuremberg,  Spongier,  a  member 
of  the  city  council,  took  up  the  defence  of  Lu- 
ther.    (Ecolampadius  wrote  an  anonymous  work 


318 


LIFE   OF   LUTHER. 


[1519. 


directed  against  Eck  and  Emser,  which  did  ad- 
mirable execution.  Feldkirch  and  Melancthon 
joined  in  the  defence,  and  all  together  prepared 
the  way  for  Luther's  address  to  the  German  no- 
bility, which  he  wrote  about  this  time,  and  which 
was  the  most  magnificent  and  effective  appeal 
which  he  ever  made  to  the  German  nation.  It 
united  to  his  own  religious  spirit  the  glowing 
patriotism  of  Hutten.  A  finer  specimen  of  popular 
eloquence  is  scarcely  to  be  found  in  the  language. 

Section  III. —  Various    Works  of  Luther  on  Practical  Reli- 
gion; and  his  Perilous  Situation  after  the  Disputation. 

IDST  storms  of 
controversy,  where 
the  polemic  writer, 
situated  as  Luther 
was,  must  use  that 
adroitness,  point 
and  wit  which  are 
likely  to  affect  the 
popular  mind,  there 
is  danger  of  losing 
the  spirit  of  humi- 
lity and  charity.  Luther  was  not  always  superior 
to  such  temptations.  But  as  his  polemical  writings 
were  but  occasional  productions,  and  his  works  on 
practical  religion,  commentaries,  sermons,  and  cate- 
chetical writings  were  very  numerous,  we  should  be 
liable  to  do  injustice  to  his  piety,  were  we  to  over- 
look the  latter  class  of  his  works,  and  judge  of 
him  exclusively  from  the  former  class.  Although, 
in  respect  to  the  great  controversy,  his  heart,  as 


JE.  86.]  WORKS  ON   PRACTICAL   RELIGION.  319 

he  often  says,  was  full  of  the  matter,  and  he  had 
only  to  open  his  mouth,  and  it  would  stream  forth 
spontaneously;  still  he  took  greater  satisfaction  in 
writing  works  purely  religious,  for  the  spiritual 
improvement  of  the  people.  At  that  period  of  his 
life  of  which  we  are  now  treating,  he  was  very 
active  in  this  kind  of  labour. 

The  study  of  the  Psalms  afforded  him  very 
great  delight.  He  had  twice  delivered  a  course 
of  lectures  on  them  in  the  university,  and  had 
now  recently  published,  on  the  first  twenty-two 
Psalms,  what  he  modestly  called  Labours  on  the 
Psalms,  not  presuming  to  pronounce  it  a  commen- 
tary. Labours  indeed  they  wTere.  'You  would 
not  believe,"  he  writes  to  Spalatin,  "  how  much 
labour  a  single  verse  often  makes  me."  It  had 
been  reported  to  him  by  Spalatin  that  the  elector 
once  said  that  sermons  full  of  subtilty  and  human 
opinions  wrere  very  cold  and  weak,  but  that  the 
Scriptures  had  such  a  majesty  and  power  as  to 
overcome  all  the  arts  of  disputation.  In  the  de- 
dication to  Frederic,  he  refers  to  this  incident, 
and  says  that  the  elector  had  thereby  entirely 
wTon  his  heart ;  that  he  could  not  help  loving  the 
lovers  of  the  Bible,  and  hating  its  enemies.  He 
could  not  presume  to  understand  and  explain  all 
the  Psalms.  It  was  much  to  understand  a  few, 
and  these  only  in  part.  The  Holy  Spirit  reserves 
much  to  itself,  wishing  to  retain  us  in  the  charac- 
ter of  pupils. 

In  the  same  year,  (1519,)  in  September,  ap- 
peared his  great  work,  the  Commentary  on  the 
Epistle  to  the  Galatians,  in  which  he  laid  himself 


320  LIFE    OF    LUTHER.  [1520. 

out  to  show,  under  every  possible  variety  of  form, 
the  difference  between  the  righteousness  of  the 
law  and  that  of  faith  by  which  we  are  justified. 
This  is  the  chief  work  in  which  the  fundamental 
principles  of  the  Reformation  are  carefully  laid 
down,  a  work  fully  proving  that  his  views  were 
incomparably  more  scriptural  than  those  of  his 
opponents,  but  also  showing  that  his  own  system 
was  disfigured  with  some  excrescences. 

He  next  wrote  a  deeply  religious  work  for  the 
consolation  of  the  elector  in  his  sickness,  enti- 
tled Tesscradecas,  because  it  consisted  of  fourteen 
chapters,  seven  images  or  views  of  affliction,  and 
seven  of  blessings.  Erasmus  said  this  produc- 
tion was  highly  approved  even  by  those  who  were 
violently  opposed  to  the  doctrines  of  the  Refor- 
mation. 

He  also  wrote,  in  the  early  part  of  1520,  a  ser- 
mon or  popular  treatise  on  Good  Works,  showing 
that  outward  acts  of  devotion,  as  prayers,  fast- 
ings, almsgivings  and  mortifications,  were  of  no 
avail,  if  they  were  performed  without  a  living 
faith  in  Christ.  "  The  Christian's  faith  and  assu- 
rance makes  every  thing  precious  in  the  sight  of 
God,  which,  in  others,  would  be  the  most  hurt- 
ful." 

He  wrote  another  work  in  October  of  the  same 
year,  dedicated  to  Leo  X.,  on  Christian  Liberty, 
in  which  he  maintains  and  illustrates  the  state- 
ment that  "  a  Christian  is  a  free  man,  lord  over 
all  and  subject  to  no  one ;  and  yet  is  servant  of 
all  and  subject  to  every  one;"  containing,  (para- 
doxical   as    it  may  sound,)  the  great  truth  that 


M.  30. ]  WORKS   ON   PRACTICAL   RELIGION.  321 

Christ  has  set  us  free,  allowing  no  man  to  be  lord 
any  longer  over  our  conscience ;  and  yet  that  the 
love  of  God  leads  us  spontaneously  to  do  good  to 
all,  and  to  be  the  servants  of  all.  In  the  dedica- 
tory epistle,  Luther  fulfilled,  in  his  peculiar  way, 
the  promise  made  September  12th  to  Miltitz  and 
others,  that  he  would  write  once  more  to  the  pope, 
assuring  him  that  the  assaults  he  had  made  upon 
the  papacy  were  not  directed  against  his  person. 
"  Though  I  have  been  forced,"  he  says,  "  by  some 
of  thy  unchristian  flatterers,  to  appeal  in  my 
affairs  from  thy  seat  and  tribunal  to  a  Christian 
and  free  council,  yet  has  my  mind  never  been  so 
alienated  from  thee  that  I  have  not  wished  well 
to  thee  and  to  thy  Roman  see.  ...  I  have  indeed 
fallen  severely  upon  certain  unchristian  teachings, 
and  been  pretty  nipping  against  my  adversaries, 
not  because  of  their  evil  lives,  but  because  of 
their  unchristian  doctrines.  Of  this  I  do  not  re- 
pent, nor  shall  I  leave  off.  .  .  .  True  it  is,  I  have 
boldly  impugned  the  Roman  see,  called  the  Ro- 
man court,  which  neither  thou  nor  any  other  one 
can  deny  to  be  worse  and  more  scandalous  than 
Sodom,  Gomorrah,  or  Babylon  ever  was;  and,  so 
far  as  I  see,  there  is  no  help  nor  remedy  for  it. 
.  .  .  For  it  cannot  be  concealed  from  thee  that, 
for  many  years  gone  by,  from  Rome  nothing  hath 
gone  forth  but  perdition  of  soul  and  body  and 
goods.  .  .  .  Thou  sittest,  holy  Father  Leo,  like  a 
sheep  among  wolves,  like  Daniel  among  the  lions, 
like  Ezekiel  among  the  scorpions.  ...  It  were 
indeed  thy  proper  business  and  that  of  the  cardi- 
nals to  stay  this  evil,  but  the  disease  mocketh  at 


3-22  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1520. 

the  remedy;  the  steed  and  the  chariot  give  no 
heed  to  the  driver.  .  .  .  Behold,  the  reason  and 
ground  of  my  setting  myself  so  stiffly  against 
this  pestilential  see.  .  .  .  Were  I  to  retract,  it 
would  do  no  good.  He  who  shall  attempt  to  con- 
strain me  to  do  it,  will  only  make  bad  worse. 
Besides,  I  must  have  no  rule  and  measure  laid 
upon  me  for  interpreting  the  Scriptures :  for  the 
word  of  God,  that  teacheth  freedom,  must  not  be 
bound." 

The  tone  of  this  epistle  finds  its  explanation 
in  the  fact,  that  Luther  had  already  gone  so  far 
in  condemning  the  court  of  Rome,  that  he  could 
not  now  either  consistently  or  conscientiously 
speak  of  it  in  gentle  terms.  He  had,  about  a 
week  before,  published  his  work  entitled  the 
Babylonian  Captivity  of  the  Church,  in  which  he 
retracted  the  concessions  he  had  formerly  made 
in  respect  to  the  papacy,  and  declared  it  to  be 
"  the  kingdom  of  Babylon,  and  the  power  of  Nim- 
rod,  the  mighty  hunter,"  alluding  to  the  booty  or 
prey  taken  by  Tetzel  and  other  "mighty  hunt- 
ers." If  any  thing  more  were  wanting  to  com- 
plete the  rupture,  it  was  supplied  by  the  publica- 
tion of  the  bull  which  Eck  had  procured  at  Rome 
against  Luther. 

October  11,  Luther  wrote  to  Spalatin  :  "  The 
Roman  bull,  brought  by  Eck,  hath  at  length  come 
to  hand.  ...  I  hold  it  in  contempt.  .  .  .  Not  only 
at  Leipsic,  but  everywhere,  both  the  bull  and  Eck 
are  despised.  ...  I  rejoice  with  my  whole  heart 
that  I  am  made  a  sufferer  for  the  best  of  causes, 
though  I  am  not  worthy  of  a  suffering  so  sacred. 


M.  30.]  WORKS  ON  PRACTICAL  RELIGION.  323 

I  am  now  more  free  than  before,  and  I  now  feel 
assured  that  the  pope  is  antichrist." 

Although  he  regarded  the  bull  as  genuine,  he 
lie; i ted  it  as  if  it  were  spurious,  and  wrote  a  work 
"  On  the  new  Bulls  and  Lies  of  Eck,"  and  an- 
other "Against  the  Execrable  Bull  of  Antichrist," 
and  a  third,  called  "Defence  of  all  the  Articles 
condemned  in  the  recent  Bull  of  Leo  X."  A  still 
bolder  step  was  that  of  burning  the  bull,  decretals 
and  other  books,  in  the  presence  of  the  students, 
before  the  Elster  or  eastern  gate  of  the  town. 
Luther  announced  the  occurrence  to  Spalatin  in 
the  following  manner,  as  though  he  were  a  news- 
paper chronicler  of  the  events  of  the  week.  "In 
the  year  1520,  the  10th  day  of  December,  at 
nine  o'clock  a.  m.,  were  burnt  at  Wittenberg,  with- 
out the  eastern  gate,  near  the  Holy  Cross,  all  the 
books  of  the  pope,  the  decree,  the  decretals,  the 
recent  bull  of  Leo  X.,"  and  several  other  works, 
as  Eck's,  and  Emser's,  "  in  order  that  the  incen- 
diary papists  may  see  that  it  requireth  no  great 
power  to  burn  books  which  they  cannot  refute." 

Notwithstanding  Luther's  progress  and  increas- 
ing confidence  in  the  truth,  and  the  diffusion  of 
his  sentiments  among  the  educated  and  intelligent 
classes,  storms  of  still  greater  violence  from  with- 
out seemed  to  be  fast  gathering  against  him.  The 
mild  and  candid  Emperor  Maximilian  had  died  ; 
the  interregnum  during  which  Frederic  was  vicar 
of  the  empire  had  also  passed  away,  and  the  new 
emperor,  Charles  V.,  who  was  elected  the  second 
day  of  the  Leipsic  disputation,  and  whose  protec- 
tion   Luther    sought  in   a    patriotic   but  humble 


324  LIFE   OF   LUTIIER.  [1520. 

letter,  showed  signs  of  displeasure  and  hostility. 
Duke  George  of  Saxony,  the  Bishops  of  Bran- 
denburg, Meissen,  Merseburg,  and  the  Universi- 
ties of  Leipsic,  Cologne,  Louvain,  and  even  Paris, 
became  Luther's  bitter  enemies ;  and  now  the  pope 
had  excommunicated  him,  and  called  on  kings  and 
princes  to  treat  him  as  a  heretic,  and  deliver  him 
up  to  the  papal  emissaries.  While  these  perils 
were  coming  on,  Luther  found  new  and  unex- 
pected support  in  the  old  chivalric  spirit  of  cer- 
tain Franconian  knights.  As  early  as  May  13, 
1520,  he  wrote  to  Spalatin :  "Day  before  yester- 
day, I  received  a  message  from  Silvester  von 
Schaumburg,  a  Franconian  nobleman,  .  .  .  offering 
me  protection,  if  in  any  way  the  elector  is  endan- 
gered on  my  account.  Though  I  do  not  despise 
this,  yet  will  I  rely  on  no  protector  but  Christ, 
who  hath,  perhaps,  put  this  into  his  mind."  The 
knight  hoped  he  would  not  think  of  going  to  Bo- 
hemia for  safety,  "For,"  he  adds,  "I,  myself,  and 
about  a  hundred  other  nobles,  whom,  with  God's 
permission,  I  will  gather  around  me,  will  honour- 
ably maintain  you  and  defend  you  against  all 
danger." 

Francis  von  Sickingen,  the  magnanimous  and 
powerful  leader  of  the  Franconian  knights,  re- 
peatedly sent  similar  messages  to  Luther,  inviting 
him  to  one  of  his  castles  a  little  south  of  Mainz. 
I  I  rich  von  Hutten  also,  that  fiery  spirit,  who  kin- 
dled such  a  popular  hatred  against  the  Roman 
court  and  Roman  tyranny,  openly  espoused  Lu- 
ther's cause.  Luther  wished  the  elector  to  let 
the  cardinal,  who  had  written  to  him,  know,  "  that 


M.  35-36.]        WORKS  ON  PRACTICAL  RELIGION. 


325 


even  should  they  succeed  in  their  abominable 
measures  to  drive  him  from  Wittenberg;  they 
would  accomplish  nothing,  save  to  make  bad 
worse ;  for  not  only  in  Bohemia,  but  in  the  very 
heart  of  Germany,  are  to  be  found  those  who  can 
and  will,  despite  their  malice,  protect  me  against 
all  their  fulminations.  .  .  .  With  me  the  die  is 
cast;  I  despise  alike  the  fro  wirings  and  fawnings 
of  Rome.  I  will  never  be  reconciled  with  them, 
nor  have  part  with  them,  let  them  condemn  and 
burn  my  writings  as  they  will."  But  Luther  did 
not  approve  of  appealing  to  the  sword.  He  wrote 
in  1521  to  Spalatin:  "What  Hutten  hath  in 
mind  you  see.  I  desire  not  that  the  gospel  be 
made  to  prevail  by  violence  and  bloodshed,  and 
so  I  have  replied  to  him.  The  world  hath  been 
overcome  by  the  word ;  by  the  word  the  church 
hath  been  sustained." 


'■  - 


28 


326 


LIFE   OF  LUTHER. 


[1520. 


CHAPTER  III. 


LUTHER   AND    THE    DIET    OF    WORMS. 

SECTION  I. — Luther  summoned  to  appear  at  Worms  ;  and  Ms 
Journey  thither. 

HE  new  emperor, 
Charles  V.,  who  was 
in  Spain  at  the  time 
of  his  election,  did 
not  reach  Germany 
till  toward  the  close 
of  1520.  Early  in 
1521  he  held  his 
first  diet  at  Worms. 
No  business  that 
was  to  occupy  the 
attention  of  the  diet 
was  beset  with  so  many  difficulties  as  that  which 
related  to  the  claims  of  the  church  of  Rome. 
Not  only  were  the  religious  sentiments  of  many 
changed  by  the  writings  of  Luther,  but  the  Ger- 
man princes  and  statesmen  had  long  felt  the  gall- 
ing yoke  of  Roman  tyranny,  and  were  desirous 
of  freeing  themselves  both  from  ecclesiastical  rule 
and  from  the  enormous  tribute  paid  under  various 
forms  to  the  church  of  Rome. 

The  papal  legate  Aleander,  and  others  in  the 
interests  of  the  pope,  used  their  utmost  influence 


M.  37.]  SUMMONED  TO   WORMS.  307 

to  have  the  books  of  Luther  burned  by  authority 
of  the  emperor.  The  latter  had  Learned  thai  the 
Elector  of  Saxony  was  no1  pleased  with  this  pro- 
cedure,— that  he  pronounced  it  unjust  to  condemn 
books  to  the  flames  which  had  not  yet  been  proved 
to  be  false  or  heretical.  On  the  28th  of  Novem- 
ber, 1520,  therefore,  Charles  wrote  to  the  elector, 
requesting  him  to  bring  Luther  with  him  to  the 
diet  of  Worms,  that  he  might  cause  him  to  be 
examined  before  learned  and  able  judges.  At  the 
same  time,  the  elector  was  requested  to  see  that 
Luther  should  write  nothing  against  his  holiness 
the  pope,  or  the  church  of  Rome. 

Frederic  replied,  December  20,  that  while  Lu- 
ther's books,  without  being  first  refuted,  had  been 
burnt  at  Cologne  and  Mainz,  Luther  himself  might 
have  done  something,  [burnt  the  pope's  bull  and 
the  decretals,]  so  that  it  would  be  difficult  for  him 
to  appear  at  Worms.  At  the  same  time,  however, 
the  elector  directed  his  secretary,  Spalatin,  to 
write  to  Luther,  inquiring  whether  he  would  be 
willing  to  go,  in  case  the  emperor  should  insist  on 
it.  Luther  replied,  December  21:  "If  I  shall  be 
summoned,  I  will,  so  far  as  it  dependeth  on  me, 
he  carried  there  sick,  in  case  I  be  not  well,  sooner 
than  refuse;  for,  without  doubt,  I  am  called  of 
Grod,  if  called  by  the  emperor.  If  they  intend 
to  settle  these  matters  by  bare  authority  alone  as 
it  seemeth,  (for  they  have  not  probably  produced 
this  summons  with  a,  view  to  convince  me,)  then 
must  the  case  be  commended  unto  Grod.  lie  still 
liveth  and  nilcth  who  preserved  the  three  men  in 
the  fiery  furnace.     If  he  will  not  keep  me,  then 


328  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1521. 

my  head  is  of  little  account,  compared  with  the 
ignominious  death  of  Christ,  which  was  an  offence 
to  all,  and  the  falling  of  many.  For  here  we 
must  have  no  regard  to  danger  or  safety,  but 
rather  see  that  we  do  not  betray  the  gospel, 
which  we  have  once  received,  and  give  it  over 
to  the  contempt  of  the  wicked,  and  our  enemies 
have  occasion  to  say,  that  we  are  afraid  to  ac- 
knowledge what  we  teach,  and  to  shed  our  blood 
therefor,  which  disgrace  on  our  part,  and  proud 
boasting  on  theirs,  may  God  avert.  .  .  .  We  can- 
not tell  whether  by  our  life,  or  by  our  death, 
more  or  less  danger  may  accrue  to  the  gospel. 
You  know  that  divine  truth  is  a  rock  of  offence, 
set  for  the  fall  and  rising  again  of  many  in  Israel. 
Let  it  be  our  only  care  to  pray  unto  God  that 
the  commencement  of  our  emperor's  reign  be  not 
stained  with  my  blood,  or  that  of  airy  other  man, 
in  order  to  defend  wickedness.  As  I  have  often 
said,  I  would  rather  perish  by  the  hands  of  the 
Romanists,  than  that  the  emperor  and  his  court 
should  be  involved  in  such  an  act." 

The  Roman  party  were  strongly  opposed  to 
Luther's  examination  before  the  diet,  as  it  would 
imply  that  one  already  condemned  by  the  pope 
might  still  have  a  trial  before  a  secular  tribunal. 
They  had  procured  a  second  bull  from  Rome,  in 
which  Luther  was  unconditionally  excommuni- 
cated, and  they  made  use  of  this  as  an  argument 
to  divert  the  emperor  from  his  purpose,  and  suc- 
ceeded so  far  as  to  induce  him  to  write  again  to 
the  Elector  Frederic,  and  say  to  him,  that,  unless 
Luther  was  prepared  to  retract,  he  need  not  come, 


M.  37.]  SUMMONED  TO   WORMS.  329 

and  at  any  rate,  that  he  might  come  no  farther 
than  to  Frankfurt,  and  there  await  further  orders. 
But  the  elector  prudently  replied,  that  he  himself 
was  already  on  his  way  to  Worms,  and  that  he 
would  there  confer  with  the  emperor  on  the  whole 
matter.  Meanwhile,  he  wrote  to  Luther,  direct- 
ing him  to  say  how  far  he  could  comply  with  the 
emperor's  orders. 

The  emperor  viewed  every  thing  through  a 
political  medium;  truth  and  justice  yielded  to  con- 
siderations of  advantage.  J I  is  advisers  wished  to 
moderate  Luther,  in  order  to  make  use  of  him  in 
their  negotiations  with  Rome.  The  two  Roman 
nuncios,  particularly  Aleander,  an  intriguing  man, 
resorted  to  bribery  and  every  low  art,  in  order 
to  engage  the  emperor  in  their  interest  and  secure 
his  power  against  Luther.  The  emperor  saw  here 
the  means  of  forcing  the  pope  to  support  his  policy 
against  France,  and  determined  to  sacrifice  Luther, 
but  not  without  first  securing  every  possible  ad- 
vantage. The  princes  did  not  enter  into  these 
views  of  Charles,  but  added  their  complaints  to 
Luther's  in  respect  to  Roman  tyranny,  and  there- 
fore checked  the  emperor,  though  they  were  al- 
together disinclined  to  favour  Luther's  religious 
doctrines.  The  transactions  at  Worms  ;ill  grew 
out  of  these  conflicting  interests,  and  form  a  singu- 
lar series  of  intrigues  and  manoeuvres,  in  order  to 
reconcile  and  adjust  them  so  as  to  secure  the  ends 
contemplated  in  the  emperor's  policy.  Hence,  the 
movements,  counter-movements  and  suspensions, 
which  checker  and  confuse  the  proceedings  of  the 
diet. 


330  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1521. 

During  all  these  negotiations,  in  which  Luther's 
safety  was  involved,  he  was  labouring  on,  at  Wit- 
tenberg, as  zealously  and  as  laboriously  as  if 
there  were  nothing  to  disturb  his  mind.  He  said 
in  a  letter  to  his  friend  Pellican,  at  Basle,  who 
was  superintending  the  printing  of  some  of  his 
books  published  there,  "I  am  exceedingly  occu- 
pied with  business.  I  preach  twice  every  day; 
I  am  engaged  in  writing  my  Commentary  on  the 
Psalms ;  I  am  working  on  the  postils ;  I  am  fight- 
ing against  the  papal  bull  both  in  German  and 
Latin,  and  defending  myself  against  attacks  ;  not 
to  mention  the  letters  I  must  write  to  my  friends, 
and  the  conferences  which  I  hold  at  home  and 
elsewhere."  When  the  citation  and  the  safe-con- 
duct from  the  emperor  were  brought  to  Luther  by 
a  herald  sent  to  accompany  him,  Luther  was  in 
the  very  midst  of  those  labours.  Hence  he  apolo- 
gized to  Prince  John  Frederic,  to  whom  he  dedi- 
cated his  commentary  on  the  song  of  Mary  at  the 
annunciation,  for  sending  him  only  a  part  of  it, 
saying,  "  The  remainder  must  be  put  off  till  my 
return;  for  you  see  that,  being  summoned  to  the 
imperial  diet,  I  must  drop  every  thing."  Various 
expressions  of  his,  both  at  this  time  and  after- 
ward, show  that  he  expected  his  fate  would,  in 
all  probability,  be  like  that  of  Huss,  and  that  he 
should  never  return  alive  to  Wittenberg.  Still  he 
was  not  without  hope.  The  straight-forward  and 
honest,  the  bold  and  yet  skilful  movements  of  Lu- 
ther, the  prudence  and  increasing  solicitude  of 
the  elector,  the  jealousy  of  the  diet  against  the 
Roman  nuncios  and  Italian  intrigue,  and  the  hesi- 


M.  37.]  SUMMONED  TO   WORMS.  331 

tancy  of  the  emperor,  a  mere  political  calculator,  to 
commit  himself  openly  to  the  pope  at  the  risk  of  of- 
fending the  Elector  of  Saxony  and  his  friends,  these 
were  the  chief  means  employed  by  Providence  for 
the  presentation  of  Luther  at  this  critical  juncture. 

The  imperial  herald,  Caspar  Sturm  of  Oppen- 
heim,  reached  Wittenberg,  March  2Gth,  and  Lu- 
ther commenced  his  journey  about  the  2d  of 
April,  the  council  of  Wittenberg  providing  a 
conveyance  for  him.  Amsdorf,  Scheurl,  and  two 
or  three  other  friends  accompanied  him.  At 
Leipsic,  he  was  merely  treated  to  wine  by  the 
authorities,  which  was  regarded  as  a  cold  recep- 
tion, the  same  which  he  received  at  the  Leipsic 
disputation.  At  Naumburg,  the  burgomaster  en- 
tertained him  and  the  herald;  and  a  priest  sent 
him  a  likeness  of  Savonarola,  an  Italian  reformer 
and  martyr,  and  exhorted  him  to  stand  firmly  by 
the  truth,  for  God  would  be  with  him  and  uphold 
him.  At  Weimar,  he  wras  hospitably  received  by 
Duke  John  Frederic,  brother  and  afterward  suc- 
cessor of  the  elector.  Here  he  received  intelli- 
gence that  his  books  had  been  already  condemned 
at  Worms,  and  saw  the  messengers  who  wTere  to 
publish  the  imperial  mandate  in  the  cities.  The 
condemnation  of  Luther,  to  which  tin4  emperor 
had  once  assented,  wras,  at  the  remonstrance  of 
the  German  princes,  put  off,  and  only  the  seizure  of 
his  books  was  insisted  on  then.  The  herald  asked 
him  if  he  wished  still  to  proceed,  to  which  Luther  re- 
plied in  the  affirmative.  Prince  John  furnished  him 
witli  money  to  defray  the  expenses  of  his  journey. 

At    Erfurt,  Luther  was   welcomed  with   great 


332  LIFE    OF   LUTHER.  [1521. 

pomp  and  ceremony.  Crotus,  then  rector  of  the 
university,  and  the  poet  Eoban  Hess,  and  others, 
to  the  number  of  forty,  on  horseback,  and  a 
great  multitude  on  foot,  came  out  eight  miles 
from  the  city  to  escort  him  in.  The  streets  of  the 
city  were  thronged  when  he  entered ;  and,  at  the 
request  of  many,  he  consented  to  preach  in  the 
Augustinian  cloister,  where  he  had  once  suffered 
so  much.  Here  Justus  Jonas,  formerly  a  student 
at  Wittenberg,  but  now  professor  at  Erfurt,  joined 
Luther  and  his  party.  At  Gotha,  also,  he  yielded 
to  the  urgency  of  the  people  and  preached.  At 
Eisenach  he  was  taken  very  ill,  and  did  not  en- 
tirely recover  till  after  he  reached  Frankfurt, 
from  which  place  he  wrote  to  Spalatin,  April 
14th:  "We  have  arrived  here,  my  clear  Spala- 
tin, although  Satan  hath  endeavoured  to  hinder 
me  by  more  diseases  than  one.  For  all  the  way 
from  Eisenach  I  was  sick,  and  am  still  so,  more 
than  I  ever  was  before.  I  hear  the  mandate  of 
Charles  is  published  for  the  purpose  of  terrif}ring 
me.  But  Christ  liveth,  and  I  will  enter  Worms 
in  spite  of  all  the  gates  of  hell  and  the  powers  of 
the  air."  Many  undertook  to  dissuade  him  from 
his  purpose ;  his  friends  did  it  out  of  regard  to 
his  safety ;  his  enemies  to  avoid  discussion  before 
the  diet.  It  was  said  to  him  at  one  time  that  he 
would  be  burned  to  powder,  as  Huss  was  at  Con- 
stance; to  which  he  answered:  "Though  they 
kindle  a  fire  all  the  way  between  Wittenberg  and 
Worms  that  shall  reach  unto  the  heavens,  I  will, 
in  the  name  of  the  Lord,  appear,  inasmuch  as  I 
am  summoned,  and  come  between  the  great  teeth 


M.  37.]  SUMMONED   TO   WORMS.  333 

of  the  behemoth  and  confess  Christ,  and  let  him 
rule." 

At  the  special  instance  of  the  emperor's  confes- 
sor, who  still,  perhaps  for  good  political  reasons, 
hoped  to  effect  a  reconciliation,  Bucer  was  sent  by 
Francis  von  Sickingen  from  his  castle  at  Ebern- 
burg,  inviting  him  to  meet  at  that  retired  place 
such  men  as  Charles  should  send  to  confer  with 
him.  But  Luther,  determined  not  to  be  turned 
aside  by  frowns  or  flatteries,  and  knowing  that 
the  time  of  his  safe-conduct  would  soon  expire, 
replied  coolly,  "If  the  emperor's  confessor  hath 
any  thing  to  say  unto  me,  he  can  say  it  at  Worms," 
and  proceeded  on  his  way.  At  Oppenheim, 
toward  Worms,  he  received  a  warning  from  Spa- 
latin,  who  was  with  the  elector  at  Worms,  not  to 
venture  into  the  city ;  to  which  he  made  the  well- 
known  reply  :  "  If  there  were  as  many  devils  in 
Worms  as  there  are  tiles  on  the  roofs  of  the 
houses,  I  would  still  go  thither."  Just  before 
the  close  of  his  life,  referring  to  this  courageous 
state  of  feeling,  he  said  :  "  I  was  then  intrepid, 
and  feared  nothing.  God  can  make  one  as  it  were 
beside  himself.  1  do  not  know7  that  I  should  be 
so  confident  now."  "  To-day,"  p.  e.  April  1G,] 
says  an  eye-witness,  "came Doctor  .Martin  hither, 
in  an  open  Saxon  vehicle,  in  company  with  three 
other  persons,  namely,  a  brother*  of  his,  Nicholas 

*  This  was  his  brother  Jacob  Luther,  who  was  with  him  also  when 
lie  was  seized  and  curried  to  Wartburg.  Seckendorf,  by  an  un- 
happy conjecture,  explained  the  word  brother  as  meaning  a  monk, 
and  other  writers  have  blindly  followed  him.  So,  too,  have  these 
writers  made  Von  Suaven  (Latinized,  Suabenius)  a  Danish,  instead 
of  a  Pomeranian  nobleman. 


334  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1521. 

Amsdorf,  and  a  Pomeranian  nobleman  by  the  name 
of  Von  Suaven.  Before  the  carriage  rode  the  im- 
perial herald,  on  horseback  and  in  livery  with 
the  imperial  escutcheon,  attended  by  his  servant. 
Justus  Jonas  and  his  servant  followed  next  to 
Luther.  Many  nobles  and  courtiers  went  out  to 
meet  him.  At  ten  o'clock  he  entered  the  city, 
and  more  than  two  thousand  persons  escorted  him 
to  his  quarters."  He  stopped  at  a  hotel  called 
"  The  German  Court,"  where  the  elector  had  pro- 
vided lodgings  for  him.  Two  Saxon  nobles  of 
Frederic's  court,  and  Pappenheim,  the  imperial 
marshal,  lodged  at  the  same  place  with  Luther. 


Section  II. — Luther  "before  the  Diet;  his  Return  and 
Capture. 

Early  the  next  morning,  the  marshal  Pappen- 
heim and  the  herald  were  sent  with  an  order  from 
the  emperor,  requiring  Luther  to  appear  before 
him  and  the  diet,  at  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon, 
to  answer  to  the  matters  that  should  then  be  pre- 
sented. The  interval  of  several  hours  was  one 
of  intense  anxiety ;  and  it  was  on  that  occasion 
that  he  made  the  memorable  prayer  which  has 
been  recorded,  and  is  to  be  found  in  the  histories 
of  the  Reformation. 

In  order  to  understand  Luther's  position  before 
the  diet  at  Worms,  we  must  glance  at  what  had 
been  done  there  previous  to  his  arrival.  Janu- 
ary 1G,  just  three  months  before  Luther's  entrance 
into  the  city,  the  elector  wrote  from  Worms  to 


M.  37.]  BEFORE   THE   DIET.  335 

his  brother  John,  thus :  "  Every  day  as  I  am 
informed,  consultations  are  held  against  Doctor 
Martin,  to  put  him  under  the  ban  of  excommu- 
nication and  outlawry,  and  to  persecute  him  to 
the  utmost.  This,  they  of  the  red  hat  and  the 
Romans  with  their  party,  do  labour  at.  But 
there  are  many  who  regard  him  with  favour." 
Leo  X.  wrote  to  Charles  V.  a  letter  dated  Rome, 
January  18,  but  which  did  not  come  before  the 
diet  till  February  13,  in  which  he  says,  that  as 
Luther  had  failed  to  appear  at  Rome  to  answer 
to  his  summons,  he,  the  pope,  had  declared  him 
a  notorious  heretic.  Having  learned  through  his 
nuncio  that  his  imperial  majesty  was  inclined  to 
maintain  the  Catholic  faith,  he  now  implored  him 
to  issue  a  general  edict  that  Luther,  unless  he 
retract  his  errors,  suffer  the  penalties  due  to  a 
heretic.  February  13,  the  nuncio,  Aleander,  pre- 
sented the  apostolical  brief  above  mentioned,  and 
seconded  its  suggestions  by  an  elaborate  but 
haughty  speech  against  Luther,  beseeching  the 
diet  not  to  bear  with  the  man,  who  was  calling- 
back  from  hell  IIuss  and  Jerome  of  Prague,  who 
had  been  condemned  and  burnt.  Glapio,  confes- 
sor of  the  emperor,  had  several  interviews  with 
Pontanus,  the  elector's  chancellor,  during  the 
month  of  February,  seeking  to  effect  a  rcconci- 
liation  by  inducing  Luther  to  renounce  the  errors 
and  hard  sayings  contained  in  his  work  on  the 
Babylonian  Captivity.  These  errors  he  pointed 
out,  to  the  number  of  thirty-two.  Glapio  admit- 
ted that  the  Roman  party  daily  belaboured  the 
emperor  to  carry  into  effect  the  suggestions  of 


336  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1521. 

the  papal  brief,  but  that  he  had  thus  far  mani- 
fested an  unwillingness  to  do  so.  Still  we  find 
a  draft  of  an  imperial  edict  against  Luther's  writ- 
ings, and  against  his  person,  unless  he  should  re- 
tract, as  early  as  the  10th  of  February.  This 
draft  was  laid  before  the  diet,  together  with 
the  three  following  questions:  1.  Whether  Luther 
should  be  called  to  have  a  hearing — to  Worms,  or 
to  some  other  place  in  the  vicinity?  2.  Whether 
his  books,  being  full  of  heresy,  ought  not  forth- 
with to  be  burned  and  destroyed?  3.  Whether, 
in  case  he  should  choose  not  to  appear,  or,  ap- 
pearing, would  not  renounce  his  errors,  he  should 
then  be  punished  as  a  heretic? 

The  diet,  near  the  beginning  of  March,  replied 
that,  having  taken  the  edict  and  questions  laid 
before  them  into  consideration,  1.  They  must 
warn  the  emperor  of  the  dangers  of  attempting 
by  a  new  edict  to  quell  the  excitement  produced 
by  Luther's  preaching  and  writings;  and,  2.  They 
approve  of  citing  Luther  to  appear  at  Worms  under 
a  safe-conduct,  not  however  to  discuss  the  points 
at  issue,  but  simply  to  reply  to  the  questions 
whether  he  would  retract  or  not.  When  Luther 
was  informed  by  Spalatin  of  these  counsels,  he 
replied  that  he  would  not  go  to  Worms  for  such 
a  purpose  as  that;  he  could  as  well  answer  the 
question  in  Wittenberg  as  in  Worms ;  and  that  he 
would  never  retract.  The  emperor  informed  the 
diet  that  he  should  proceed  according  to  their 
advice. 

After  all  this,  and  after  Luther  had  (March 
26)  received  his  citation  and  safe-conduct,  (dated 


M.  37.]  BEFORE   THE   DIET.  337 

March  6,)  the  emperor,  nevertheless,  issued  his 
edict  against  Luther's  books,  omitting  that  part 
which  related  to  his  person.  This  unjust  and 
violent  procedure,  designed  to  prejudice  the  popular 
mind  and  to  terrify  the  friends  ol  Luther,  induced 
the  latter,  and  particularly  Spalatin  and  the  elector, 
to  dissuade  Luther  from  presenting  himself  for  trial 
after  his  books  were  already  condemned  by  the 
emperor. 

We  learn  the  state  of  feeling  among  Luther's 
friends,  from  a  document  of  Pontanus,  in  which 
he  recounts  the  considerations  on  both  sides  in 
respect  to  the  safety  of  Luther's  presenting  him- 
self under  these  circumstances.  The  chief  objec- 
tions were,  that  the  cause  was  virtually  prejudged, 
and  that  his  safe-conduct  would  be  no  security,  if 
he  should  refuse  to  retract,  and  should  therefore 
be  declared  a  heretic.  There  were  in  fact  princes 
who  were  not  ashamed  to  say  that  the  emperor 
was  not  bound  to  keep  his  word  with  a  heretic. 
But  the  house  of  Saxony  and  others  rejected 
such  a  suggestion  with  scorn  and  with  threats. 
The  reasons  urged  by  Pontanus  in  favour  of  Lu- 
ther's coming  were,  that  the  edict  itself,  though 
it  stated  that  Luther  was  cited  to  answer  to  the 
question  whether  he  would  retract  what  he  had 
written  or  not,  still  expressly  speaks  of  the  safe- 
conduct  to  Worms  (aid  bad;  again,  without  condi- 
tions or  any  reference  to  the  kind  of  answer  that 
should  be  given;  and  that  Luther's  enemies  would 
desire  nothing  better  than  to  be  able  to  say  that 
he  had  not  confidence  to  appear  for  trial.  Lu- 
ther knew  the  whole  case  perfectly,  pud  decided 

29 


338  LIFE   OF   LUTIIEE..  [1521. 

with  wisdom  as  consummate  as  his  courage.  It 
was  here  at  "Worms  that  he  opened  the  eyes  of 
many  of  the  rulers  of  Germany,  and  actually 
drove  a  wedge  which  split  the  diet  into  two  reli- 
gious parties,  not  for  many  centuries  to  he  again 
united.  The  scene  which  was  opened  at  Worms 
did  not  close  till  the  end  of  the  Thirty  Years' 
War,  when  the  Protestants  wrung  from  the  Ca- 
tholics a  political  equality. 

When  the  hour  arrived,  Ulrich  von  Pappen- 
heim  and  Caspar  Sturm  came  and  conducted  him 
first  to  the  Swan,  the  quarters  of  the  Elector  of 
the  Palatinate,  whence  he  was  conveyed  through 
secret  passages  to  the  Guild-hall,  to  avoid  the 
concourse  which  had  thronged  the  way  from  Lu- 
ther's lodgings  to  the  emperor's  quarters.  Many 
had  climbed  upon  the  house-tops  to  see  Dr.  Martin 
as  he  passed.  As  he  was  about  to  enter  the  hall, 
Freundsberg,  a  celebrated  military  commander, 
tapped  him  on  the  shoulder,  and  said,  "Monk! 
monk !  thou  art  about  to  make  a  passage  and 
occupy  a  post  more  perilous  than  any  which  I 
and  many  other  commanders  ever  knew  in  the 
bloodiest  battle-fields.  If  thou  art  in  the  right 
and  sure  of  your  ground,  go  on  in  God's  name 
and  fear  not ;  God  will  not  forsake  thee."  Even 
after  he  had  entered  the  hall,  where,  according 
to  the  account  of  George  Vogler,  an  eye-witness, 
not  less  than  five  thousand  were  assembled,  in- 
cluding those  in  the  galleries  and  windows  and 
about  the  doors,  many  persons  ventured  to  ap- 
proach him  and  speak  to  him  words  of  encourage- 
ment, saying  to  him,  "Speak  manfully, and  be  not 


M.  37.]  BEFORE   THE   DIET.  339 

afraid  of  them  who  kill  the  body,  but  have  no 
power  over  the  soul."  He  was  instructed  by 
Pappenheim  to  say  nothing  but  when  he  was 
called  upon. 

Now  the  imperial  orator,  Dr.  John  Eck,  (not 
the  theologian,  but  the  official  or  secular  agent 
of  the  Archbishop  of  Treves,)  addressed  him,  at 
the  emperor's  order,  in  Latin,  and  then  in  Ger- 
man, saying  that  he  had  been  called  before  the 
imperial  diet  to  answer  to  these  two  questions: 
"  First,  whether  you  acknowledge  these  books  [a 
large  pile  of  which  lay  on  the  table]  to  be  your's 
or  not;  secondly,  whether  you  will  retract  them 
and  their  contents,  or  whether  you  Avill  adhere  to 
them  still." 

Before  Luther  replied,  Schurf,  his  counsellor, 
said,  "  Let  the  titles  of  the  books  be  read."  Then 
the  official  read  over  the  titles,  among  which  were, 
Exposition  of  certain  Psalms,  Treatise  on  Good 
Works,  Explanation  of  the  Lord's  Prayer,  and 
others  which  were  not  of  a  polemical  character. 

Luther  then  answered,  both  in  Latin  and  in 
German,  "  First,  I  must  acknowledge  the  books 
just  named  to  be  mine,  and  can  never  deny  them. 
But  touching  the  next  point,  whether  I  will  main- 
tain all  these,  or  retract  them,  seeing  it  is  a  ques- 
tion of  faith  and  of  one's  salvation  and  of  the  word 
of  God,  which  is  the  greatest  treasure  in  heaven 
and  earth,  and  deserving  at  all  times  our  highest 
reverence,  it  would  be  rash  and  perilous  for  me 
to  speak  inconsiderately,  and  affirm,  without  re- 
flection, either  more  or  less  than  is  consistent 
with  truth  ;  for  in  either  case  I  should  fall  under 


340  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1521. 

the  sentence  of  Christ,  '  He  that  clenieth  me 
before  men,  him  will  I  deny  before  my  Father 
which  is  in  heaven.'  Therefore  I  beg  of  your 
imperial  majesty  time  for  reflection,  that  I  may 
be  able  to  reply  to  the  question  proposed  with- 
out prejudice  to  the  word  of  God,  or  to  my  own 
salvation." 

Hereupon  the  diet  consulted,  and  returned  a 
reply  through  the  official,  "  That  although  thou 
mightest  have  known  from  the  imperial  summons 
for  what  purpose  thou  wast  cited,  and  dost  not 
deserve  the  grant  of  further  time  for  considera- 
tion, yet  his  imperial  clemency  granteth  thee  one 
more  day." 

Whether  we  consider  the  serious  nature  of  the 
transaction,  or  the  impression  to  be  made  upon 
such  a  national  assembly,  we  shall  perceive  that 
Luther  judged  wisely  in  making  such  a  request. 
The  solemn  suspense  only  heightened  the  solici- 
tude of  the  multitude  to  hear  the  result. 

As  he  was  conducted  to  his  quarters,  he  re- 
ceived many  benedictions  from  the  people,  and 
nobles  came  to  his  lodgings  and  encouraged  him. 
What  his  feelings  were  at  this  moment,  we  learn 
from  a  letter  to  Cuspinian,  in  which  he  says,  "  I 
have  this  very  hour  been  standing  before  the  em- 
peror and  his  brother  Ferdinand,  and  been  asked 
whether  I  would  retract  my  writings.  I  an- 
swered, '  The  books  laid  before  me  are  mine ;  but 
concerning  the  revocation,  I  will  say  what  I  will 
do  to-morrow.'  This  is  all  the  time  I  asked  for  deli- 
beration, and  all  that  they  would  give.  But,  Christ 
being  gracious  to  me,  I  will  not  retract  an  iota." 


M.  37.]  BEFORE    THE   DIET.  341 

About  this  time  he  received  letters  of  encou- 
ragement  from  Ulrich  von  Hutten,  the  warrior- 
poet  and  patriot.  He  addressed  a  letter  from 
Ebernburg,  April  15,  "to  his  holy  friend,  the  in- 
vincible theologian  and  evangelist.  Fight  cou- 
rageously for  Christ,"  he  says,  "and  yield  not  to 
wrong,  but  go  forth  confidently  to  meet  it.  En- 
dure as  a  good  soldier  of  Jesus,  and  suffer  that 
the  gift  which  is  in  you  may  be  called  out,  and 
be  assured  that  He  on  whom  you  have  believed 
can  preserve  what  you  have  committed  to  him  till 
that  day.  I  also  will  take  strong  hold  of  the 
work  ;  but  there  is  this  difference  in  our  under- 
takings, that  mine  is  human,  while  you,  far  more 
perfect,  cleave  wholly  to  divine  things." 

On  the  following  day,  Thursday,  the  18th,  at 
four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  the  herald  called 
again  for  Luther,  and  conducted  him  to  the  empe- 
ror's court,  where,  on  account  of  the  engagements 
of  the  princes,  he  was  obliged  to  stand  waiting 
until  six  o'clock,  with  an  immense  crowd,  which 
was  gathered  to  hear  his  answer.  The  lamps 
were  already  lighted  in  the  council  hall.  When 
the  princes  were  ready  to  hear  him,  and  Luther 
was  standing  before  them,  the  official  called  on 
him  to  answer  to  the  questions  laid  before  him 
the  previous  day.  Luther  made  his  statement 
and  defence  in  German,  with  modesty  and  calm- 
ness, but,  at  the  same  time,  with  a  confidence  and 
firmness  that  surprised  those  who  expected  no- 
thing but  a  recantation.  After  bespeaking  the 
indulgence  of  the  diet,  if,  from  his  monastic  and 
retired  habits,  he  should  fail  in  respect  to  any  of 

29* 


342  LIFE    OF    LUTHER.  [1521 

the  customary  proprieties  of  courtly  address,  he 
observed  that  his  published  works  were  not  all  of 
the  same  character.  In  some  he  had  treated  of 
faith  and  works  of  piety  with  such  plainness  and 
Christian  simplicity  that  even  his  enemies  were 
obliged  to  confess  their  harmlessness,  usefulness 
and  worth.  To  retract  these  would  be  to  con- 
demn the  truth  which  all  parties  confessed.  The 
second  class  of  his  works  were  directed  against 
the  papacy  and  the  Papists,  as  corrupting  with 
their  teaching  and  example  all  Christendom,  both 
in  body  and  soul.  No  one  can  deny  nor  conceal 
that  by  the  papal  laws  and  teachings  of  man,  the 
consciences  of  Christians  are  held  in  bondage, 
burdened  and  tormented,  and  that  goods  and  pos- 
sessions, especially  in  Germany,  are  devoured  by 
their  incredible  tyranny.  They  themselves  have 
ordained  in  their  own  decrees,  that  the  laws  and 
doctrines  of  the  pope  which  are  contrary  to  the 
gospel  and  the  teachings  of  the  Fathers  be  re- 
garded as  erroneous.  Were  he  to  revoke  this 
class  of  his  books,  he  would  but  contribute  to 
the  strength  of  tyranny,  and  leave  open,  not  only 
a  window,  but  a  door  and  a  gate  to  wickedness, 
wider  than  ever ;  and  by  his  testimony,  espe- 
cially if  extorted  by  his  imperial  majesty  and  the 
whole  German  nation,  their  unchecked  tyrannical 
rule  would  be  strengthened  in  its  foundations. 
The  third  class  of  his  books  were  personal,  and 
written  against  those  who  undertook  the  defence 
of  Roman  tyranny  and  the  overthrow  of  the  di- 
vine doctrines  which  he  had  inculcated.  Against 
these   he  had,  he  confessed,  been  more  violent 


iE.  87.]  BEFORE  THE   DIET.  343 

than  was  becoming.  lie  did  not  set  himself  up 
for  a  saint,  and  disputed  with  his  opponents  not 
about  his  own  life,  but  about  the  doctrines  of 
Christ.  But  even  these  books  he  could  not  re- 
voke, because  he  would  thereby  give  his  influence 
in  favour  of  Roman  tyranny,  which  would  tram- 
ple on  the  people's  rights  more  mercilessly  than 
ever. 

But  as  he  was  a  man,  and  not  God,  he  could 
not  do  for  his  books  othenvise  than  Christ  did 
for  his  doctrines,  who,  when  questioned  in  re- 
spect to  them  by  Annas,  and  smitten  on  his  cheek 
by  the  servant,  said,  "If  I  have  spoken  wrong, 
then  show  it  to  be  wrong."  "  Therefore,"  said 
he,  "by  the  mercy  of  God,  I  beg  your  imperial 
majesty,  or  any  one  else  who  can,  whoever  he 
may  be,  to  bring  forward  proof  against  me,  and 
overcome  me  by  the  writings  of  the  apostles  and 
prophets.  And  then,  if  I  am  shown  to  be  in 
error,  I  will  be  ready  and  willing  to  retract,  and 
will  be  the  first  to  cast  my  books  into  the  fire." 
But  we  cannot  attempt  to  present  even  an  outline 
of  this  address.  When  it  was  ended,  he  was 
requested,  for  the  sake  of  the  emperor  and  his 
Spanish  court  and  others  who  did  not  understand 
German,  to  repeat  it  in  Latin.  Though  exhausted 
with  the  effort  he  had  made,  he  consented  to  go 
over  the  ground  again  and  rehearse  the  whole 
mat  tor  in  Latin. 

When  he  had  finished,  the  imperial  orator  ac- 
cused him  of  evading  the  point  in  question,  and 
demanded  that,  instead  of  debating  on  articles 
which  the  councils  had  long  ago  settled,  he  should 


344  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1521. 

give  a  plain  and  direct  answer,  whether  he  would 
retract  or  not.  To  this  Luther  replied:  "Since 
your  imperial  majesty  and  lordships  desire  a  direct 
answer,  I  will  give  one,  which  has  neither  horns 
nor  teeth ;  and  it  is  this :  Unless  I  shall  be  con- 
vinced by  the  testimony  of  Scripture,  or  by  clear 
and  plain  argument,  (for  I  do  not  believe  either  in 
the  pope  or  in  the  councils  alone,  because  it  is 
plain  and  evident  they  have  often  erred  and  con- 
tradicted each  other,)  I  am  held  by  those  pas- 
sages which  I  have  cited,  and  am  bound  by  my 
conscience  and  by  the  word  of  God,  and  therefore 
I  may  not — cannot  retract,  inasmuch  as  it  is  nei- 
ther safe  nor  right  to  violate  my  conscience.  Here 
I  stand,  and  cannot  do  otherwise,  God  be  my 
help,  Amen." 

The  electors  and  other  members  of  the  diet  took 
the  reply  into  consideration,  whereupon  Eck,  the 
official  of  the  Archbishop  of  Treves,  took  upon 
him  to  refute  Luther,  and  to  rebuke  his  immo- 
desty. Luther  rejoined,  reaffirming  and  main- 
taining his  positions,  and  entreated  the  emperor 
not  to  force  a  man  to  violate  his  conscience  which 
was  held  bound  by  the  authority  of  Scripture. 

The  next  day,  Friday,  April  19,  the  emperor 
sent  a  written  communication  to  the  council  of 
state,  saying,  that  as  Luther  would  not  yield  nor 
move  a  finger's  breadth  from  his  errors,  he,  the 
emperor,  must  follow  in  the  footsteps  of  his  pre- 
decessors, and  maintain  and  protect  the  Catholic 
religion,  and  inflict  the  penalty  upon  Luther  if  he 
should  choose  to  come  under  the  ban.  But,  as  a 
safe-conduct  had  been  granted  him,  this  must  not 


/K.  37.]  BEFORE   THE   DIET.  345 

be  violated,  lie  must  first  be  allowed  to  return 
to  his  home.  The  remainder  of  that  day  and  the 
whole  of  the  following  Saturday  were  consumed 
by  the  diet  in  deliberating  upon  this  declaration 
of  the  emperor.  In  the  mean  time  placards  were 
stuck  up,  intimating  that  not  less  than  four  hun- 
dred knights  had  leagued  together  for  the  protec- 
tion of  Luther.  Von  Hutten  and  Von  Sickingen 
were  supposed  to  be  the  leaders. 

Monday,  the  22d,  early  in  the  morning,  the 
Archbishop  of  Treves  sent  for  Luther  to  come  to 
his  quarters  and  meet  several  princes  there,  in  a 
friendly  conference.  It  was  done,  but  all  to  no 
effect,  both  parties  adhering  to  their  principles. 
A  private  interview,  which  immediately  suc- 
ceeded, between  the  archbishop,  Eck  and  Coch- 
heus  on  the  one  hand,  and  Luther,  Schurf  and 
Amsdorf  on  the  other,  was  attended  with  no  bet- 
ter success.  Several  other  similar  attempts  were 
made  to  move  Luther  from  his  purpose,  but  with- 
out effect;  and  finally  he  was  dismissed  by  the 
emperor  with  a  safe-conduct  extending  to  twenty 
days,  with  directions  to  refrain  from  agitating  the 
minds  of  the  people  cither  by  preaching  or  by 
writing.  Luther  submitted  to  the  order  without 
opposition,  except  that  he  claimed  the  right  freely 
to  confess  and  to  teach  the  word  of  God. 

The  Elector  Frederic  was  not  displeased  with 
the  manner  in  which  Luther  acquitted  himself  on 
this  extraordinary  occasion.  He  had,  even  before 
Luther's  arrival  in  Worms,  expressed  a  desire  to 
do  something  to  protect  him  from  unreasonable 
treatment.     After    Luther's    address   before    the 


346  LIFE    OF    LUTHER.  [1521. 

diet,  the  elector  said  to  Spalatin,  "The  father, 
Dr.  Martin,  hath  spoken  well  in  Latin  and  Ger- 
man before  the  emperor,  the  princes  and  the 
estates.  It  was  a  bold  step  he  took."  "If  it 
were  in  my  power,"  he  said  afterward,  "  I  would 
gladly  procure  justice  for  him."  Such  feelings 
led  to  the  project  of  concealing  him  in  the  castle 
of  Wartburg,  and  putting  him  under  the  protec- 
tion of  the  commander  of  that  place.  The  plan 
of  a  friendly  capture  was  communicated  to  Luther 
the  evening  before  he  left  Worms,  and  to  his  com- 
panion Amsdorf,  though  the  time  and  place  were 
unknown  to  them. 

A  graphic  outline  of  the  transactions  at  Worms 
is  given  by  Luther  in  a  letter  to  Albert  of 
Mansfeld,  written  May  3,  at  Eisenach,  the  day 
before  he  was  taken  and  carried  to  Wartburg. 
After  the  usual  salutation,  and  an  allusion  to  the 
count's  request  that  Luther  would  send  by  a  spe- 
cial messenger  an  account  of  the  proceedings 
respecting  him,  he  says,  "First,  my  arrival  at 
Worms  was  altogether  unexpected.  Therefore  a 
prohibition  was  sent,  and  I,  while  under  the  im- 
perial safe-conduct,  was  condemned  before  I  came 
to  the  place  or  had  a  hearing.  Afterward,  that  1 
might  be  quickly  disposed  of,  I  was  asked  whe- 
ther I  would  cleave  to  my  books  or  renounce 
them.  Whereupon  I  replied  as  your  grace  hath, 
no  doubt,  already  heard.  Immediately  the  em- 
peror, imbittered  against  me,  issued  a  severe  man- 
date  and  sent  it  to  the  estates  of  the  empire.  .  .  . 
Then  certain  persons  were  chosen  out  of  the  diet 
to  admonish  me,  in  a  gracious  and  friendly  way, 


."!•;.  37.]  BEFORE  THE   DIET.  347 

to  submit  my  books  to  the  judgment  of  the  em- 
peror and  of  the  diet.  They  were  the  Bishop  of 
Treves,  Margrave  Joachim  [of  Brandenburg,] 
Duke  George  of  Saxony,  the  Bishop  of  Augsburg, 
the  Teutonic  Master,  the  Bishop  of  Brandenburg, 
( !ount  George  of  Wertheim  and  two  deputies  from 
the  free  cities.  Then  a  doctor  [Vehus,]  chan- 
cellor of  the  Margrave  of  Baden,  arose  and  gave 
unto  me  such  a  fine  and  well-arranged  admonition, 
that  I  must  confess  the  official  of  Treves,  who 
spoke  before  the  emperor,  cannot  hold  a  candle  to 
him.  .  .  .  When  they  failed  to  produce  any  effect 
upon  me,  the  Archbishop  of  Treves  called  me, 
Dr.  Schurf  and  Ainsdorf,  and  also  his  official  and 
Cochlseus,  before  him  apart.  But  it  was  an  un- 
profitable dispute,  and  led  to  no  good  result.  .  .  . 
Afterward  the  Chancellor  [Vehus]  of  Baden  and 
Peutinger  were  sent  to  me  to  persuade  me  to 
submit  my  books  unconditionally  to  the  emperor. 
...  I  put  it  to  their  consciences  whether  they 
could  advise  me  to  commit  myself  wholly  to  the 
emperor  and  others  who  had  already  condemned 
me  and  burnt  my  books.  .  .  .  After  this,  the 
Archbishop  of  Treves  sent  for  me  to  see  him 
alone.  He  showed  himself  in  this  affair  very 
kind  and  more  than  gracious,  and  would  gladly 
have  quelled  the  difficulty.  He  set  the  matter 
again  before  me,  and  T  answered  as  before,  for  I 
could  not  do  otherwise,  and  so  lie  dismissed  me. 
Soon  after  came  the  official,  with  a  count,  the  im- 
perial chancellor,  as  a  notary,  saying  to  me  in  the 
emperor's  name,  thai  inasmuch  as  I  did  not  recede 
from  my  purpose,  I  must  return  with  twenty  days 


348  LIFE   OF  LUTHER.  [1621. 

safe-conduct,  and  his  imperial  majesty  would  after- 
ward do  with  me  what  was  proper.  I  thanked  his 
majesty,  and  said,  'As  it  hath  pleased  the  Lord, 
so  it  is  done.  Blessed  be  the  name  of  the  Lord.' 
They  enjoined  it  upon  me  not  to  preach  or  write 
by  the  way.  I  replied,  'I  will  do  all  that  his 
majesty  pleases,  but  the  word  of  God  I  will  have 
unbound,  as  St.  Paul  says.'  Thus  I  parted  with 
them,  and  am  now  at  Eisenach." 

Several  days  before,  April  28,  while  at  Frank- 
furt, he  wrote  to  his  friend  Cranach,  the  painter: 
"I  shall  suffer  myself  to  be  taken  and  concealed, 
I  do  not  myself  know  where.  And  though  I 
would  rather  suffer  death  from  the  tyrants,  espe- 
cially from  the  furious  Duke  George,  nevertheless 
I  must  not  despise  the  counsel  of  good  friends, 
but  must  wait  for  the  proper  time. 

"  My  arrival  at  Worms  was  unexpected ;  and 
how  the  safe-conduct  was  observed  you  all  know 
from  the  prohibition  which  met  me  on  the  way. 
I  had  supposed  his  imperial  majesty  would  have 
assembled  about  fifty  doctors,  and  in  a  fair  way 
have  confuted  the  monk.  But  only  thus  much 
was  done.  'Are  these  books  yours?'  'Yes.' 
'Will  you  retract  them  or  not?'  'No.'  'Away 
with  you  then.'  0  blind  Germans  that  we  are ! 
How  childishly  we  act  and  suffer  the  Romanists 
so  miserably  to  make  us  play  the  ape  and  the  fool. 
.  .  .  Greet  [professor  and  burgomaster]  Beyer 
and  his  wife,  and  express  my  warm  thanks  to  the 
council  [of  Wittenberg]  for  my  conveyance  [to 
Worms.]  .  .  .  Farewell.  I  commend  you  all  to 
God,  and    may  he   keep   the   understanding    and 


•;'K't' 


Wan  burg  Castle,  and  tha  seizure  of  Luther  on  his  way  from 
Worms.  p.  3411. 


JE.  37.]  BEFORE   THE   DIET.  349 

faith  of  you  all  in  Christ  from  the  Roman  wolves 
and  dragons  and  their  rabble." 

Luther  left  Worms,  Friday,  April  26th,  at  ten 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  was  overtaken  at  Op- 
penheim  by  the  herald,  who  followed  after  him. 
The  second  day  he  went  as  far  as  Frankfurt, 
where,  the  next  morning,  he  wrote  the  above- 
mentioned  letter  to  Cranaeh.  The  third  day  he 
reached  Friedberg,  whence  he  sent  one  communi- 
cation to  the  emperor  and  another  to  the  diet  by 
the  herald,  whose  company,  in  view  of  the  elec- 
tor's project,  was  desired  no  farther.  The  fourth 
day  he  arrived  at  Griinberg,  and  the  fifth  at  Hirs- 
feld,  where  he  was  received  with  great  pomp. 
The  sixth  day,  at  night,  he  entered  Eisenach, 
where,  the  next  morning,  he  dismissed  Schurf  and 
his  other  travelling  companions,  except  Amsdorf; 
while  he  himself  and  Amsdorf,  after  remaining 
another  day,  turned  aside  and  went  to  Mora,  on 
the  other  side  of  the  Thuringian  Forest,  to  visit 
his  uncle  and  other  relatives.  The  day  following, 
a  little  beyond  Altenstein,  he  was  seized  with 
feigned  violence,  and  conveyed  to  Wartburg. 
He  might  easily  have  gone  to  this  place  when 
at  Eisenach,  but  that  would  have  divulged  the 
secret. 

In  the  church  records  at  Schweina,  a  little 
south  of  Altenstein,  is  found  the  following  entry: 
"Saturday,  May  4,  1521,  between  (bin-  and  five 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  Dr.  M.  Luther  passed 
through  this  place  on  his  way  from  Worms,  and 
was  taken  captive  about  a  mile  beyond  Altenstein, 
near  Luther's    Fountain,  on    the   road  to  Waltcrs- 


350  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1521. 

hausen,  and  carried  to  Wartburg."  This  is  the 
most  romantic  part  of  the  Thuringian  Forest. 
Luther  had  followed  the  winding  mountain  road 
southward  to  Schweina,  and  was  passing  through 
a  sandy  hollow  at  the  bend  of  the  road  south-east 
of  Altenstein,  when  the  commander  of  that  place, 
the  Knight  von  Ilund,  and  Berlepsch,  the  com- 
mander of  Wartburg,  seized  him,  according  to  a 
preconcerted  plan.  As  it  was  not  yet  sunset,  and 
as  the  utmost  secrecy  was  necessary,  they  left  the 
road  and  wandered  about  the  forest  to  the  north 
and  west,  till  they  came  to  a  spring  and  a  beech 
tree  in  a  narrow  glen,  about  a  hundred  and  twenty 
rods  from  the  castle  of  Altenstein.  Here  they  sat 
down  and  rested,  and  refreshed  themselves  with 
the  pure  water.  The  spring  is  still  called  Lidhers- 
brunn,  and  the  beech,  (now  six  feet  in  diameter,) 
Luthersbuche.  A  centennial  celebration  was  held 
there  in  1817. 

In  a  letter  to  Spalatin,  dated  on  the  Mountain, 
[Wartburg,]  May  14th,  after  speaking  of  "the 
papal  yoke,  which  the  people  will  no  longer  bear," 
and  of  his  leisure  time  and  his  studies,  he  goes  on 
to  say :  "  The  Abbot  of  Hirsfeld  received  me  with 
a  kindness  which  you  would  hardly  believe.  He 
sent  his  chancellor  and  his  lord  of  the  exchequer 
out  five  miles  to  meet  me.  He  himself  received 
me  at  his  castle  with  a  cavalcade,  and  accom- 
panied me  into  the  town.  Within  the  Avails  we 
were  received  by  the  senate.  The  abbot  enter- 
tained us  [Luther  and  his  companions]  sumptu- 
ously in  the  monastery,  and  put  me  into  his  own 
chamber.  The  next  morning  they  compelled  me 
to  picach.      It  was  in  vain  that  1  objected,  on  the 


M.  37.]      CArTURED  NEAR  ALTENSTEIN.        351 

ground  that  it  might  cost  the  abbot  his  regalia, 
inasmuch  as  the  imperial  party  might  say  that  it 
was  a  violation  of  public  faith,  they  having  for- 
bidden me  1o  preach  on  the  way.  I  indeed  told 
him  1  did  not  consent  that  the  word  of  God  should 
be  bound,  and  this  was  true. 

"I  preached  also  at  Eisenach;  but  the  timid 
parson  was  present  with  a  notary  and  witnesses, 
protesting  against  it,  and  then  excusing  himself 
humbly,  saving  he  did  it  out  of  fear  of  the  tyrants 
which  were  over  him.  Perhaps  you  may  hear  at 
Worms  [where  Spalatin  still  remained]  that  I  have 
herein  not  kept  good  faith;  but  it  is  not  so.  That 
the  word  of  God  should  be  bound  was  a  condition 
wherein  I  had  nothing  to  do,  nor  did  I  make  any 
such  promise ;  and  even  if  I  had  done  so,  inas- 
much as  it  is  contrary  to  the  will  of  God  to  make 
such  promise,  I  should  not  be  bound  to  keep  it. 
The  day  following,  the  abbot  accompanied  us  as 
far  as  to  the  [Thuringian]  forest,  and  sent  his 
chancellor  forward  to  Berka  to  prepare  a  dinner 
for  us. 

"At  length  we  entered  Eisenach  at  evening, 
under  the  escort  of  the  people,  [among  whom  were 
many  of  Luther's  youthful  acquaintances,]  who 
came  out  on  foot  to  meet  us.  In  the  morning, 
Schurf  and  all  my  other  companions  [except 
Amsdorf]  went  on  their  way.  1  went  across  the 
mountain  to  visit  my  kindred,  who  inhabit  that 
region.  Leaving  them  and  proceeding  toward 
Waltershausen,  soon  after  passing  the  castle  of 
Altenstein,  1  was    seized.     Amsdorf  necessarily 


352  LIFE    OF   LUTHER.  [1521. 

knew  that   some  one  was  to  take  me,  but  was 
ignorant  of  the  place  of  my  custody. 

"  My  brother,  seeing  the  knights  in  season, 
leaped  from  the  carriage,  and,  without  taking 
leave  of  me,  went  on  foot  to  Waltershausen, 
which  he  is  said  to  have  reached  in  the  even- 
ing, [followed,  at  length,  by  Amsdorf  and  the 
affrighted  driver  with  the  carriage.]  So  here  I 
am,  my  own  attire  being  laid  aside,  and  that  of 
a  knight  being  put  upon  me,  with  long  hair  [as 
monk,  he  wore  his  hair  shorn  in  the  form  of  a 
crown  of  thorns]  and  long  beard,  so  that  you 
would  hardly  know  me.  Indeed,  I  have  not  for 
some  time  known  myself.  Here  I  enjoy  Chris- 
tian liberty,  being  set  free  from  all  the  laws  of 
that  tyrant,  though  I  would  choose  rather,  if  it 
were  the  will  of  God  I  should  suffer  for  his 
word,  that  this  Dresden  swine  [Duke  George] 
should  be  thought  worthy  to  put  me  to  death 
for  preaching  publicly.  The  will  of  the  Lord  be 
done." 


m. 


AT    WARTBURG. 


353 


CHAPTER  IV. 

from  luther's  capture  to  the  close  of  tiie  peasants' 
M'Ar— 1521-1525. 

Section  I. — Luther  at  Wartfatrg,  May  4,  1521,  to  March  4, 
1522. 

T  was  more  than 
a  week  before  Lu- 
ther ventured  to 
write  any  letters 
to  his  friends.  On 
the  12th  of  May, 
he  wrote  one  letter 
to  Melancthon  and 
another  to  Ams- 
dorf.  The  one  last 
tStPjgP'KuW^  quoted,  giving  an 
account  of  his  capture,  was  written  two  days 
later.  To  Amsdorf  lie  says,  "I  wrote  lately  to 
you  all,  my  dear  Amsdorf,  but,  on  listening  to  a 
better  counsellor,  I  tore  the  letters  in  pieces,  be- 
cause it  was  not  yet  safe  to  send  them.  .  .  .  The 
Lord  now  visiteth  me  with  severe  illness,  [arising 
from  costiveness.]  Bui  pray  for  nie.  as  I  always 
pray  for  }rou,  that  God  may  strengthen  your 
heart.  Be  courageous,  therefore;  and,  as  you 
have  opportunity,  speak  the  word  of  God  with 
boldness.  Write  to  me  how  it  was  with  you  in 
your  journey,   [from    Altenstein   to  Wittenberg,] 

30* 


354  LIFE   OF  LUTHER.  [1521. 

and  what  you  heard  and  saw  in  Erfurt,  [where 
a  great  excitement  was  created  by  the  attentions 
paid  to  Luther  on  his  way  to  Worms.]  With 
Melancthon  you  will  learn  what  Spalatin  [still 
at  Worms]  hath  written  to  me,  [concerning  the 
violent  proceedings  against  me.]  The  day  I  was 
torn  away  from  you,  I,  a  new  knight,  weary  from 
the  length  of  the  ride,  [about  eight  miles,]  came  in 
the  dark,  nearly  eleven  o'clock  at  night,  to  this 
mansion.  And  now  I  am  here  in  a  state  of 
leisure,  like  one  set  at  large  among  captives.  Be- 
ware of  the  Dresden  Rehoboam  [Duke  George] 
avid  of  Benhadad  of  Damascus,  [the  Elector  of 
Brandenburg,]  your  neighbour.  For  a  severe 
edict  hath  been  issued  against  us.  But  the  Lord 
shall  hold  them  in  derision." 

The  Elector  Frederic,  in  order  to  evade  the 
questions  with  which  the  imperial  and  papal  party 
would  be  likely  to  press  him,  kept  himself  igno- 
rant for  a  time  of  the  particular  place  where  Spa- 
latin,  by  his  order,  kept  Luther  in  custody.  We 
see,  from  the  foregoing  letter,  that  his  keepers  dis- 
suaded him  from  writing  so  soon  to  his  friends, 
lest  the  secret  in  respect  to  his  place  of  residence 
should  be  betrayed.  To  Spalatin  he  wrote,  some 
time  after:  "I  have  with  difficulty  made  out  to 
send  you  this  letter,  such  is  the  fear  entertained 
that  it  will  be  found  out  where  I  am.  Therefore, 
if  you  think  it  will  be  for  the  honour  of  Christ, 
let  it  not  be  known  whether  I  am  in  the  keeping 
of  friend  or  foe ;  for  it  is  not  necessary  that  any 
besides  yourself  and  Amsdorf  should  know  any 
thing  more  than  that  I  am  alive." 


M.  37.]  AT  WARTBURG.  355 

This  design  of  concealment  ex  plains  the  inch 'fi- 
nite and  amusing  manner  in  which  he  dated  his 
letters.  The  above  letter  to  Amsdorf  is  dated 
"In  the  Regions  of  the  Air;"  that  written  to 
Melancthon  the  same  day,  "  In  the  Regions  of  the 
Birds;"  others,  "From  my  Hermitage;"  "From 
the  Isle  of  Patmos  ;"  "Among  the  birds,  which 
sing  sweetly  in  the  trees,  and  praise  God  with  all 
their  might,  night  and  day." 

As  late  as  the  10th  of  June,  he  wrote  to  Spala- 
tin  :  "It  is  the  will  of  our  gracious  prince  that 
my  place  of  abode  he  not  yet  made  known. 
Therefore,  I  do  not  write  to  him  at  all."  Coch- 
laeus  and  others  of  the  Catholic  party  supposed 
that  Allstedt  was  the  place  of  his  concealment. 
A  few  of  Luther's  intimate  friends  had  learned 
where  he  was ;  but,  in  a  letter  written  Septem- 
ber 10,  we  find  him  saying:  "'Duke  John,  the 
elder,  at  length  knows  where  I  am,  but  did  not 
know  before.  My  host  privately  made  it  known 
to  him.     But  he  will  doubtless  keep  it  to  himself." 

Luther  poured  out  his  whole  heart  in  his  first 
letter  to  Melancthon,  May  12,  probably  the  very 
first  letter  written  from  Wartburg.  It  is  particu- 
larly interesting  as  revealing  the  state  of  his  mind 
in  that  singular  posture  of  public  affairs.  He 
writes  thus  :  "And  what,  my  dear  Philip,  are  you 
meanwhile  doing?  Are  you  not  praying  that  this 
withdrawal  of  myself,  to  which  I  have  unwillingly 
given  my  assent,  may  turn  out  for  the  furtherance 
of  the  glory  of  God?  I  greatly  desire  to  know 
how  it  pleaseth  yon.  I  fear  I  shall  be  accounted 
as  deserting  the  field  of  battle,  and  yet  I  could  find 


356  LIFE   OF  LUTHER.  [1521. 

no  way  to  resist  those  who  desired  and  advised 
this  course.  I  desire  nothing  more  than  to  bare 
my  breast  to  the  fury  of  my  enemies.  Here  I  sit 
the  whole  day,  with  the  visage  of  the  church  ever 
before  me,  and  the  passage,  Psalm  lxxxix.  47 : 
'Why  hast  thou  made  all  the  sons  of  men  in 
vain  ?'  How  horrible  a  form  of  God's  anger  is 
that  abominable  kingdom  of  the  Roman  antichrist ! 
I  abhor  my  own  hardness  of  heart  that  I  am  not 
dissolved  in  tears,  and  that  I  do  not  weep  foun- 
tains of  tears  for  the  slain  sons  of  my  people. 
But  there  is  no  one  to  arise  and  cleave  to  God, 
and  make  himself  a  wall  for  the  house  of  Israel 
in  this  last  day  of  his  wrath.  0,  kingdom  of  the 
pope  !  worthy  of  the  end  and  dregs  of  the  world. 
God  have  mercy  on  us.  Wherefore,  be  thou 
meanwhile  instant  as  a  minister  of  the  word,  and 
fortify  the  walls  and  towers  of  Jerusalem,  till  they 
shall  assail  thee.  You  know  your  calling  and 
gifts.  I  pray  earnestly  for  you,  if,  as  I  doubt  not, 
my  prayer  can  be  of  any  avail.  Do  thou  the  same 
for  me,  and  let  us  mutually  bear  this  burden. 
Thus  far  I  alone  have  stood  in  the  front  of  battle. 
They  will  next  seek  for  your  life." 

In  another  letter  to  the  same,  written  May  26, 
he  mentions,  that,  "  having  composed  his  mind  to 
quiet  studies,  he  had  reluctantly  replied  to  Jacob 
Latomus,"  a  sophistical  theologian  of  Lou  vain, 
who  had  written  in  defence  of  the  burning  of  Lu- 
ther's books  ;  that  he  had  seen  what  his  friends 
Faber,  CEcolampadius,  Huttcn  and  others,  had 
written  against  his  opponents  ;  that  he  was  him- 
self surprised  at  the  boldness  of  Feldkirch,  pro- 


JE.  37.]  AT   WARTBURG.  357 

vost  of  Kemberg,  in  venturing  at  such  a  time  to 
show  his  opposition  to  the  celibacy  of  the  clergy 
by  actually  entering  into  wedlock.  lie  is  gene- 
rally represented  as  the  first  evangelical  or  Pro- 
testant  clergyman  who  took  this  step;  but  two 
others  preceded  him  in  Saxony,  and  were  impri- 
soned for  their  temerity. 

Luther,  though  his  personal  situation  was  agree- 
able, proceeds  to  say :  "Yet,  for  the  glory  of  God, 
and  for  the  confirmation  of  myself  and  others,  I 
would  sooner  be  burnt  over  live  coals  than  decay 
alone  half  dead,  not  to  say  quite  dead.  But  who 
knoweth  whether,  in  this  as  in  other  cases,  Christ 
will  by  such  means  effect  a  greater  good  ?  We 
have  always  been  talking  about  faith  and  hope  in 
things  not  seen.  Come,  then,  let  us  for  once 
make  some  little  trial,  especially  since  it  is  of 
God's  appointing,  and  not  of  our  seeking.  Even 
if  I  perish,  the  gospel  will  not  perish,  in  which 
you  are  now  my  superior,  and  Elisha  succeedeth 
Elias  with  a  double  measure  of  the  Spirit,  which 
may  the  Lord  Jesus  in  mercy  grant  you.  Amen. 
Therefore,  be  not  sad,  but  sing  unto  the  Lord 
songs  in  the  night  season,  and  I  will  join  with 
you.  .  .  .  Let  the  men  of  Leipsic  glory,  for  this  is 
their  hour.  We  must  go  out  from  our  country, 
from  our  kindred,  and  from  our  father's  house, 
and  for  a  time  sojourn  in  a  strange  land.  ...  I 
have  not  given  up  the  hope  of  returning  unto 
you,  though  I  leave  it  to  God  to  do  what  is  good 
in  his  own  eyes. 

"  If  the  pope  shall  fall  upon  all  those  who 
think  and  feel  with  me,  there  will  be  no  want  of 


358  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1521. 

tumult  in  Germany.  The  sooner  he  does  it, 
the  sooner  will  he  and  his  perish,  and  I  return. 
God  so  arouseth  the  spirit  of  many  and  the  hearts 
even  of  the  multitude,  that  it  seemeth  not  likely 
to  me  that  the  thing  can  be  put  down  by  power ; 
or,  if  it  be  put  down,  it  will  rise  again  with 
ten-fold  force."  The  remainder  of  the  letter, 
full  of  special  references  to  the  circumstances  of 
his  Wittenberg  friends,  though  of  the  greatest 
interest  to  the  historian,  must  be  omitted  here. 

In  another  letter  he  says  :  "A  certain  Roman- 
ist hath  written  to  the  man  of  a  red  hat  at  Mainz  : 
'  We  have  lost  Luther,  as  we  desired ;  but  the 
people  are  so  excited  that  I  suspect  we  shall  not 
save  our  lives,  unless  we  seek  for  him  everywhere 
with  lighted  candles,  and  bring  him  back.'  He 
indeed  joketh ;  but  what  if  the  joke  should  turn 
out  to  be  a  serious  matter  ?" 

The  situation  of  Luther  during  the  ten  months 
of  his  residence  at  Wartburg  is  of  a  highly  ro- 
mantic character.  The  heroism  he  had  lately 
shown,  the  perilous  condition  he  was  in  when  he 
left  Worms,  the  mystery  which  hung  about  his 
present  place  of  abode,  all  acted  with  visible 
effect  upon  the  minds  of  the  people.  And  now 
that  we  are  let  behind  the  curtain,  his  secluded 
life  appears  no  less  extraordinary  than  the  won- 
derful missiles  which,  from  his  unknown  retreat, 
he  continually  sent  forth  to  the  consternation  of 
his  adversaries.  At  one  time  we  find  him  wan- 
dering for  amusement,  or  picking  wild  berries, 
along  the  hill-sides  and  ravines  east  of  the  castle. 
toward  St.  George's  gate,  or  the    south   gate   of 


M.  37.],  AT  WARTBURG.  359 

the  city.  Again,  we  see  him  out  on  a  two-days' 
chase,  busying  himself  with  dogs  and  traps ;  but 
finding,  in  the  hare  caught  by  himself,  and  wrapt 
in  a  garment  to  preserve  him  from  the  dogs — 
which  nevertheless  seized  and  destroyed  him — 
an  image  of  souls  which  others  had  endeavoured 
to  save,  but  which  Satan  and  the  pope  were  seek- 
ing to  murder.  Now  he  rides  in  disguise,  under 
the  direction  of  a  wary  knight,  to  the  neighbour- 
ing towns  and  villages,  to  Gotha,  Erfurt,  Rein- 
hardsbrunn  and  Marksuhl.  At  the  last-mentioned 
place,  about  five  miles  to  the  south-west  of  Wart- 
burg,  he  saw  his  friends ;  but  knight  George,  as 
he  was  then  called,  was  not  recognised  in  his 
knight's  dress  and  long  beard  and  hair.  AtRein- 
hardsbrunn,  between  Altenstein  and  Gotha,  he 
was  conducted  hastily  away  by  his  guardian,  when 
the  latter  perceived  that  his  ward  was  known  to 
the  people. 

The  state  of  Luther  s  mind,  at  this  time,  was 
as  peculiar  as  were  his  external  circumstances. 
He  was  like  a  vessel  that  had  outridden  the 
storm,  and  was  now  moored  by  a  desolate  island. 
The  waves  had  not  so  far  subsided  but  that  they 
still  rocked  his  bark  with  some  degree  of  violence. 
Partly  from  over-excitement  and  exhaustion,  partly 
from  unwonted  inactivity,  and  too  good  living  for 
one  of  his  monastic  habits,  he  sull'ered  painful  ill- 
ness. It  is  not  strange  that  he  should,  at  times, 
be  very  much  dejected.  He  complained  of  temp- 
tations sorer  than  he  had  ever  experienced.  This 
might  all  be  so.  But,  when  ho  tells  of  the  devil's 
making  such  disturbance  and  noise  about  the  pre- 


360  LIFE   OF  LUTHER.  [1521. 

mises  that  it  was  necessary  to  speak  to  him,  we 
may  well  suppose  that  a  little  medical  treatment 
and  the  poisoning  of  the  rats  would  have  aided  es- 
sentially in  giving  him  quiet  nights. 

It  can  hardly  be  doubted  that  his  present  seclu- 
sion was  favourable  to  his  character,  both  as  a 
Christian  and  as  a  reformer.  He  needed  time 
for  reflection.  Ever  since  he  left  the  Erfurt  con- 
vent, he  had  been  very  active,  and  often  much 
excited  by  controversy.  It  was  well  that  he 
could  now  commune  with  himself  and  with  his 
God,  and  calmly  contemplate  the  scene  without. 
He  had  necessarily  been  much  occupied  with 
tearing  down  and  destroying  what  was  false ;  he 
now  had  an  opportunity  to  direct  his  mind  steadily 
to  what  was  true.  The  work  of  building  up, 
which  was  soon  to  follow,  was  even  more  diffi- 
cult than  that  of  destroying. 

At  Wartburg,  Luther,  by  translating  the  New 
Testament,  made  the  best  preparation  for  future 
usefulness.  Not  only  did  he  hereby  put  the 
mightiest  of  Protestant  weapons  into  the  hands 
of  all  the  people,  and  in  that  way  do  immense 
service  to  the  Reformation,  but,  what  was  of  no 
less  importance,  he  obtained  that  familiarity  with 
the  whole  of  the  New  Testament,  that  thorough 
acquaintance  with  biblical  Christianity,  which 
made  it  possible  for  him  to  escape  so  many 
errors,  and  to  incorporate  so  much  truth  into 
his  theological  system.  It  is  true,  indeed,  that 
on  the  subject  of  religious  liberty  his  mind  under- 
went a  change.  After  his  return  to  Wittenberg, 
and  especially  after  the  Peasants'  War,  he  was  less 


JE.  37.]  AT    WAHTBURG.  361 

inclined  than  before  to  the  freedom  of  the  indi- 
vidual conscience  in  the  interpretation  of  the  Bible. 
Still,  the  progress  he  made  in  biblical  knowledge 
and  in  digesting  and  arranging  his  various  doc- 
trines, as  they  had  been  disconnectedly  thrown 
out  in  his  controversial  and  other  writings,  seems 
to  have  been  almost  indispensable  to  him  at  this 
time. 

Though  Luther  was  so  occupied  with  inward 
struggles  and  temptations,  and  with  the  labours 
of  studying  the  Hebrew  and  Greek  Scriptures, 
lie  did  not  withdraw  his  interest  or  his  view 
from  the  fortunes  and  the  transactions  of  the  re- 
ligious party  of  which  he  had  become  the  leader. 
With  his  friends  and  former  associates  he  kept  up 
a  diligent  correspondence.  He  requested  them  to 
communicate  to  him  all  that  was  going  on.  He 
was  accurately  informed  of  the  excitement  that 
prevailed  among  the  nobles;  of  the  disaffection 
of  the  common  people  toward  their  ecclesiastical 
rulers ;  of  the  progress  of  his  doctrines  at  home 
and  abroad,  and  of  the  designs  and  plots  of  his 
enemies.  In  these  circumstances,  he  was  the 
constant  counsellor  of  his  Wittenberg  and  other 
friends,  giving  them  instructions  how  to  proceed 
in  spreading  the  truth,  and  in  warding  oil'  the 
attacks  of  the  hostile  party,  lie  instructed  Ams- 
dorf  how  to  reply  to  Emser.  He  is  consulted 
about  the  best  manner  of  organizing  the  Witten- 
berg Gymnasium,  or  (Jrammar-school.  He  urges 
Spalatin  to  compel  Melancthon  to  preach,  saying, 
"  How  1  wish  Philip  would  preach  to  the  people 
in  the  German  language!   [he  did  not  refuse  to 


362  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1521. 

lecture  on  the  Sabbath  to  the  students,  in  Latin.] 
.  .  .  Since  he  is  called  of  God,  what  matters  it 
that  he  has  not  been  called  by  the  tyrannical 
bishops  ?  .  .  .  But  I  know  the  temper  and  spirit 
of  the  man,  that  he  will  not  yield  to  my  entrea- 
ties. Therefore  he  must  be  compelled  by  the 
urgent  demand  of  the  whole  [Wittenberg]  church. 
Were  I  at  Wittenberg,  I  should,  as  I  think,  move 
the  senate  and  people  to  call  on  him  to  preach  to 
them  in  German ;  and  I  greatly  desire  you  should 
take  the  matter  in  hand.  You  can  carry  the 
measure  in  the  senate  through  the  influence  of 
Cranach  and  Bayer." 

He  urged  Justus  Jonas,  who,  while  at  Worms 
with  him,  was  made  professor  of  canonical  law  at 
Wittenberg  in  place  of  Pollich  deceased,  to  labour 
for  the  overthrow  of  the  authority  of  the  decretals, 
or  laws  of  the  pope.  "  Be  an  Aaron,"  he  says  to 
him,  "  clothed  with  sacred  vestments,  i.  e.  armed 
with  the  sacred  Scriptures.  Take  the  censer  of 
prayer  and  go  out  to  meet  this  destroyer.  Place 
yourself  in  the  very  midst  of  the  conflagration  of 
the  world,  kindled  by  Rome,  but  soon  to  be  ex- 
tinguished by  the  coming  of  our  Saviour  whom 
we  expect.  Teach  your  pupils,  my  brother,  that 
those  things  which  it  is  your  office  to  teach  [the 
canon  law]  are  to  be  unlearned ;  that  whatsoever 
the  pope  and  the  papists  enact  and  establish  is 
to  be  avoided  as  a  deadly  poison.  Since  we  are 
not  able  to  remove  this  great  evil  by  direct  power, 
:iiid  are  obliged  to  perform  official  service  in  these 
sacrilegious  Babylonish  provinces,  it  only  reniain- 
eth  for  us  to  regard  them  as  the  devastators  and 


M.  37.]  AT  WARTBURG.  303 

plunderers  of  our  Jerusalem."  He  advised  Spa- 
latin  to  favour  the  utter  abrogation  of  the  canon 
law.  His  host,  Berlepsch,  at  Wartburg,  had  done 
well,  he  said,  in  treating  this  law  as  antiquated, 
and  in  prohibiting  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction.  If 
the  elector  and  other  princes  were  not  prepared 
to  do  as  much,  "  let  them,  at  least,  take  no  notice 
of  the  courts  and  judges  when  they  disregard  the 
papal  laws,  for  so  will  the  abuse  be  insensibly  cor- 
rected." 

Luther's  writings  during  this  period  were  both 
numerous  and  important.  The  principal  are  those 
against  Latomus,  a  learned  theologian  of  Louvain, 
and  this  was  one  of  Luther's  best  productions  ; 
against  the  University  of  Paris,  which  had  given 
a  judgment  adverse  to  his  cause ;  and  against 
Emser;  besides  treatises  on  auricular  confession, 
on  the  celibacy  of  the  clergy,  on  private  mass,  on 
the  abolition  of  cloisters,  and  on  communion  in  both 
kinds,  Commentaries  on  certain  Psalms,  and  Pos- 
tils  on  the  Gospels.  Perhaps  the  most  charac- 
teristic of  the  productions  of  his  pen  during  this 
period  is  the  well  known  letter  which  he  ad- 
dressed to  Albert,  Archbishop  of  Mainz.  That 
prelate,  as  if  triumphing  in  the  decision  of  the 
diet  of  Worms  and  in  the  retirement  of  Luther 
from  the  scene  of  conflict,  renewed  the  sale  of 
indulgences  at  Halle,  his  favourite  residence.  Lu- 
ther, who  was  fully  informed  of  what  was  done, 
felt  his  blood  boil  within  him  as  in  L517,  when 
Tel /el  was  the  direct  object  of  his  attack.  He 
set  himself  to  compose  a  tract  which  should  fall 
like  a  thunderbolt  upon  the   head   of  the  arch- 


304  UF&  OF  LUTHER.  [1521. 

bishop.  But  Spalatin  and  Melancthon,  who  had 
been  visited  on  the  subject,  in  a  friendly  way,  by 
two  distinguished  individuals  from  Albert's  court, 
thought  it  too  bold  for  the  circumstances,  and 
Frederic  feared  it  would  disturb  his  relations  with 
the  emperor  and  the  Catholic  princes;  and  the 
work  was  not,  at  that  time,  printed. 

Luther  reluctantly  submitted,  but,  in  place  of 
publishing  the  pamphlet,  he  wrote  the  private 
letter  above  mentioned  to  the  archbishop.  If  he, 
the  archbishop,  thought  himself  secure  because 
Luther  had  retired  from  the  scene,  and  supposed 
that,  by  the  aid  of  the  imperial  authority,  he 
could  put  down  the  monk,  he  would  find  himself 
mistaken.  He  himself  would  not  fail  to  do  what 
Christian  love  demanded,  in  spite  of  the  gates  of 
hell,  not  to  mention  popes,  cardinals  and  bishops ; 
and  therefore  requested  him  to  cease  from  deceiv- 
ing and  plundering  the  people,  and  to  act  the  part 
of  a  bishop,  and  not  of  a  wolf;  for  it  was  noto- 
rious that  indulgences  were  nothing  but  sheer 
knavery  and  fraud.  The  prelate  would  do  well 
to  remember  what  a  great  fire  had  been  kindled 
by  a  little,  insignificant  spark;  how  a  despised 
monk  had  given  the  pope  himself  enough  to  do; 
and,  contrary  to  all  expectation,  carried  his  point 
so  far,  that  what  had  been  lost  could  never  be 
retrieved,  but,  on  the  contrary,  became  worse  and 
worse  every  day,  so  that  God's  hand  must  be  re- 
cognised in  the  work.  The  same  God  still  lives, 
and  can  resist  and  overcome  a  Cardinal  of  Mainz, 
though  four  emperors  should  undertake  to  protect 
him.     That  Divine  hand  took  delight  in  breaking 


JE.  37-]  AT    WARTBURG.  365 

down  the  cedars  of  Lebanon,  and  humbling  the 
proud  and  hardened  Pharaohs.  The  bishop  had 
better  be  cautious  about  despising  and  provoking 
that  invisible  power.  "Let  not  your  highness 
think,"  he  goes  on  to  say,  "that  Luther  is  dead. 
lie  will  still  joyfully  trust  in  the  God  who  hath 
humbled  the  pope,  and  will  play  a  game  with  the 
Cardinal  of  Mainz,  which  few  would  expect.  .  .  . 
I  give  you  notice,  that,  unless  the  idol  be  re- 
moved, I  shall  feel  bound,  out  of  regard  to  divine 
truth  and  the  salvation  of  souls,  to  assail  your 
grace  as  I  did  the  pope,  and  to  speak  plainly  to  a 
high  dignitary,  and  to  place  all  the  abominations 
practised  by  Tetzel  at  the  doors  of  the  Bishop  of 
Mainz,  and  to  point  out  to  all  the  world  the  dif- 
ference between  a  bishop  and  a  wolf.  Your  grace 
can  hereby  know  what  to  do,  and  how  to  conduct. 
...  I  await  your  decision,  and  expect  an  answer 
within  two  weeks.  If  within  that  period  none 
comes,  then  my  book  'Against  the  Idol  at  Halle' 
will  go  to  the  public." 

Strange  as  it  may  seem,  a  mild  and  submissive 
reply  was  received,  in  which  the  archbishop  pro- 
mised to  stop  the  abuse.  Ee  did  not  care  to  be 
immortalized  as  Tetzel  had  been.  He  shrunk 
from  a  controversy  which  would  be  so  little  to 
his  credit.  The  charm  of  indulgences  had  been 
broken;  the  e}^es  of  the  people  had  been  opened, 
and  the  public  sentiment  fixed  for  ever  in  opposi- 
tion to  a  practice  so  vile  and  contemptible. 


31* 


3G6  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1521. 


Section  II. —  Troubles  at  Wittenberg,  and  Luther 's  Return. 

Meanwhile  sentiments  and  principles  were 
springing  up  among  the  friends  and  followers  of 
Luther  which  were  destined  to  make  him  great 
trouble.  He  had  broken  the  bands  by  which  the 
human  mind  had  been  so  long  fettered,  and  now 
men  began  everywhere  to  exercise  freedom  of 
opinion  and  of  speech.  Luther  himself  had  not 
fully  considered  how  difficult  it  would  be  to  stay 
the  current  after  he  had  loosened  the  foundations 
and  removed  a  portion  of  the  dam  which  had 
hitherto  restrained  it.  How  is  this  freedom  to 
be  controlled?  Shall  men  be  free  to  differ  from 
the  reformer  himself?  Is  there  to  be  no  subjec- 
tion to  authority  in  matters  of  religion?  Shall 
differences  of  opinion,  when  they  exist,  be  ad- 
justed by  learned  disputations,  with  chosen  judges 
to  sit  in  arbitration?  or  shall  the  church  be  made 
again  the  ultimate  authority?  or  shall  the  civil 
power  be  brought  in  as  the  protector  of  the  true 
faith?  It  is  not  strange  that  so  difficult  a  pro- 
blem should  not  have  been  solved  by  the  reform- 
ers, and  that,  drifting  along  on  the  current  of 
events,  they  should  sometimes  be  carried  in  a 
wrong  direction. 

There  were  two  classes  of  subjects  on  which 
serious  differences  of  opinion  arose,  the  one  relat- 
ing to  what  is  true,  the  other  to  what  is  expe- 
dient. Luther  often  agreed  with  his  opponents  in 
respect  to  the  former,  and  differed  only  in  respect 
to  the  latter.     The  majority  of  the  Augustinian 


JE.  37.]  AT    WARTBURG.  367 

monks  of  Wittenberg  agreed,  in  the  absence  of 
Luther,  to  disband.  The  step  was  a  little  too 
bold  even  for  Luther,  though  he  himself  had 
given  the  lesson.  Many  would  be  shocked  at 
such  a  wholesale  violation  of  the  monastic  vow. 
The  monks  would  rush  into  wedlock,  without 
either  an  income  or  a  knowledge  of  business  suf- 
ficient to  support  their  households. 

The  elector  and  all  his  ministers,  and  the  uni- 
versity and  the  chapter,  after  innumerable  consul- 
tations, found  it  difficult  to  settle  this  matter,  and 
still  more  difficult  to  manage  the  monks  and  others 
who,  in  the  exercise  of  their  new  freedom,  had 
abolished  the  mass  service  about  the  same  time. 
Finally,  the  subject  of  church  ceremonies  and 
church  ornaments,  altars  and  images,  led  to  a  con- 
troversy which  ended  in  open  tumult.  On  all 
these  and  kindred  points,  Carlstadt,  who  had 
joined  the  party  of  the  monk  Gabriel  Didymus, 
took  a  dilFerent  view  from  Luther.  He  insisted 
on  bringing  all  things  back  to  the  pattern  of  the 
primitive  church,  without  regard  to  men's  preju- 
dices or  to  consequences.  This  controversy  be- 
tween Luther  and  Carlstadt  is  a  delicate  subject 
for  the  historian  to  dispose  of.  Men  of  equal  in- 
telligence and  piety  come  to  different  conclusions 
in  respect  to  it.  So  much,  however,  may  safely 
be  said,  that  Carlstadt,  though  a  learned  and  un- 
doubtedly a  conscientious  man,  had  neither  the 
ability  nor  the  discretion  of  Luther.  Ee  was 
excitable,  somewhat  changeable  and  fanatical,  and 
perhaps  ambitious.  That  his  views  of  reform 
carried  him  at  times  to  excess  is  undeniable. 


368  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1521. 

But  if,  in  respect  to  means  and  measures,  lie 
was  too  violent,  and  sometimes  erred  even  when 
his  principles  were  otherwise  right,  Luther  was 
sometimes  wrong  in  his  principles.  If  the  former 
laid  too  great  stress  on  the  reformation  of  exter- 
nal abuses,  and  did  not  rely  sufficiently  on  well 
settled  principles  to  work  out  their  own  results  in 
due  time,  the  latter  went  to  the  other  extreme 
of  undervaluing  outward  conformity  to  primitive 
Christianity,  and  of  regarding  the  ceremonies 
introduced  into  the  church  in  later  times  as  a 
matter  of  comparative  indifference.  In  this  last 
respect,  he  differed  widely  from  the  Swiss  reform- 
ers. Carlstadt  was  successively  connected  with 
two  very  different  parties,  both  of  which  were  at 
variance  with  the  Lutheran  church,  namely,  the 
Anabaptists  and  the  Zwinglians.  We  are  now 
concerned  with  the  former  only. 

The  name  by  which  Luther  and  his  associates 
designated  these  men  was  that  of  "  Celestial  Pro- 
phets,"  or  "  Zwickau  Prophets,"  a  clear  indication 
that  their  leading  characteristic  was  fanaticism, 
and  that  their  peculiar  views  of  baptism  were  re- 
garded as  subordinate  or  incidental.  This  inference 
is  supported  by  the  fact  that,  for  the  first  three 
or  four  years,  they  made  no  innovations  in  respect 
to  this  rite  as  practised  by  the  church,  or,  at  most, 
in  but  a  few  individual  cases.  The  first  clear  in- 
stance on  record  of  re-baptism  by  them  was  in 
Swilzerland,  in  1524,  whereas  the  Zwickau  Pro- 
phets commenced  their  movement  near  the  middle 
of  the  year  1521.      Muncer  himself  did  not  re- 


M.  38.]  TROUBLES  AT  WITTENBERG.  :;r,'.i 

baptize,  nor  did  his  followers  generally,  during 
his  lifetime. 

Nor  was  there  any  dispute  at  that  time  about 
the  mode  of  baptism,  for  the  Anabaptists  not  only 
made  no  complaints  of  the  practice  of  the  church 
in  that  respect,  but  themselves  ordinarily  prac- 
tised aspersion  or  pouring,  and  rarely  immersion. 

When,  therefore,  the  men  of  Zwickau  appeared 
at  Wittenberg,  in  December  of  1521,  and  con- 
founded and  alarmed  Melancthon  and  Amsdorf, 
and,  for  a  time,  carried  away  with  their  persua- 
sions Carlstadt  and  others  connected  with  the  uni- 
versity, their  main  doctrine  was,  that  the  people 
of  God  should  follow  an  inward  light ;  that  they 
themselves  possessed  the  spirit  of  prophecy,  and 
spoke  by  immediate  revelation;  that  the  vain 
show  and  ceremonies  of  the  church  were  all  to  be 
abrogated  or  changed,  and  the  church  restored  to 
its  apostolical  simplicity.  They  professed  to 
establish  a  spiritual  church,  regarding  the  Catho- 
lic church  as  carnal  and  corrupt,  so  that  neither 
baptism,  ordination,  nor  any  thing  else  coining 
from  it,  could  be  recognised  by  a  Christian.  Va- 
rious extravagances  were  connected  with  these 
views,  of  which  none  was  more  important  than 
their  radicalism  in  respect  to  civil  government. 

Melancthon,  Amsdorf  and  others  represented 
I  lie  perilous  state  of  things  at  Wittenberg  to  the 
Elector  Frederic,  saying  they  were  upon  the  very 
verge  of  a  violent  insurrection,  and.  as  Luther's 
authority  was  appealed  to  by  the  insurgents,  none 
but  Luther  could  have  power  with  them.  Their 
proposal  to  recall  Luther  did  not  meet  the  elector's 


370  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1521. 

views.  He  said  lie  had  purposely  caused  Lu- 
ther to  be  conveyed  to  an  unknown  place,  and 
kept  securely  in  secret,  so  that  he  could  truly  say 
to  the  emperor,  if  required  to  deliver  him  up,  that 
he  knew  not  where  he  was.  Should  Luther  now 
make  his  appearance  openly  at  Wittenberg,  he 
might  be  seized  by  his  enemies,  and  he  himself, 
as  elector,  was  subject  to  the  imperial  authority, 
and  could  do  nothing  in  opposition  to  it  for  Lu- 
ther's protection.  Luther,  who  was  informed  of 
all  these  things,  resolved  to  make  the  bold  experi- 
ment of  going  unprotected  to  the  place  of  dan- 
ger, informing  the  elector  of  his  purpose,  but 
giving  him  no  time  to  prevent  the  step. 

No  wonder  that  Luther  was  willing  to  risk  his 
life  and  his  credit  with  Frederic,  in  order  to  allay 
the  tempest  which  he  saw  rising.  He  feared  that 
these  disorders,  springing  up  in  the  head-quarters 
of  reform,  would  bring  the  whole  movement,  with 
which  he  was  now  identified,  into  discredit,  and 
prove  more  fatal  to  the  Reformation  than  all  the 
opposition  of  the  Papists.  It  must  be  conceded 
that,  in  his  general  view  of  the  case,  he  was  sub- 
stantially in  the  right.  Whether  a  little  more 
s}rmpathy  with  the  people  in  their  longing 
for  freedom,  a  little  more  relaxation  on  points 
either  debatable  or  comparatively  unimportant, 
would  have  secured  union,  (except  with  a  few,)  as 
well  as  victory,  and  saved  the  people  from  the 
terrible  catastrophe  into  which  Muncer  plunged 
them,  is  a  question  which  no  one  can  decide  with 
certainty.  But  of  this  there  can  be  no  doubt, 
that  Luther's  abilities  were  equal  to  the  exigency, 


JE.  38.]  TROUBLES  AT   WITTENBERG.  371 

and  that  ho  never  manifested  more  consummate 
skill  in  management  and  discussion,  nor  a  clearer 
insight  into  human  nature,  than  on  this  occasion. 

An  incident  occurred  when  lie  was  at  Jena,  on 
his  way  to  Wittenberg,  which  is  too  characteristic 
of  Ids  humour  and  of  his  social  nature  to  be  omitted. 
We  have  the  account  in  the  words  of  Kessler, 
of  Saint  Gall,  one  of  the  individuals  concerned  in 
the  amusing  scene.     We  will  ([note  his  language. 

"  Though  it  may  seem  trifling  and  childish,  I 
cannot  omit  mentioning  how  Martin  met  me  and 
my  companion,  when  he  was  riding  from  the 
place  of  his  captivity  toward  Wittenberg.  As  we 
were  journeying  toward  Wittenberg,  for  the  sake 
of  studjdng  the  Holy  Scriptures — and  the  Lord 
knowrs  what  a  furious  tempest  there  was — we 
came  to  Jena  in  Thuringia,  where  we  could  not, 
with  all  our  inquiry  in  the  town,  find  or  hear  of 
any  place  to  lodge  for  the  night,  but  were  every- 
where refused,  for  it  was  carnival,  during  which 
little  heed  is  given  to  pilgrims  or  strangers.  We, 
therefore,  left  the  town  again,  to  proceed  farther 
on  our  way,  thinking  we  might  perhaps  find  a, 
hamlet  where  we  could  pass  the  night.  At  the 
gate  of  the  city  we  met  a  respectable  man,  who 
accosted  us  in  a  friendly  manner,  and  asked  us 
where  we  were  going  so  late.  .  .  .  He  then  asked 
us  whether  we  had  inquired  at  the  Black  Bear 
hotel.  .  .  .  He  pointed  it  out  to  us  a  little  distance 
without  the  city.  .  .  .  The  innkeeper  met  us  at  the 
door  and  received  us,  and  led  us  into  the  room. 
Here  we  found  a  man  at  the  table,  sitting  alone, 
with  a  small  book  lying  before  him,  who  greeted 


372  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1521. 

us  kindly,  and  invited  us  to  take  a  seat  with  him 
at  the  table;  for  our  shoes  were  so  muddy  that 
avc  were  ashamed  to  enter  the  room,  and  therefore 
slunk  away  upon  a  bench  behind  the  door.  .  .  . 
We  took  him  to  be  no  other  than  a  knight,  as  he 
had  on,  according  to  the  custom  of  the  country,  a 
red  cap,  small  clothes  and  a  doublet,  and  a  sword 
at  his  side,  on  which  he  leaned,  with  one  hand  on 
the  pommel  and  the  other  on  the  hilt.     He  asked 
us  whence  we  were,  but  immediately  answered 
himself,  '  You  are  Swiss ;  from  what  part  of  Swit- 
zerland are  you?'    We  replied, '  St.  Gall.'   He  then 
said,  '  If,  as  I  suppose,  you  are  on  your  way  to 
Wittenberg,  you  will  find  good   countrymen  of 
yours  there,  namely,  Jerome  Schurf  and  his  bro- 
ther Augustine.'     Whereupon  we  said,  'We  have 
letters  to  them.'     We  now  asked  him,  in  turn,  if 
he  could   give  us  any  information  about  Martin 
Luther — whether  he  is  now  at  Wittenberg  or  else- 
where.    He  said,  'I  have  certain  knowledge  that 
he  is  not  now  at  Wittenberg,  but  will  soon  be  there. 
But  Philip  Melancthon  is  there,  as  teacher  of 
Greek,  and  others  teach  Hebrew.'      He  recom- 
mended to  us  to  study  both  languages,  as  neces- 
sary, above  all  things,  to  understand  the  Scrip- 
tures.    We  said,  '  Thank  God,  we  shall  then  see 
and  hear  the  man  [Luther]  on  whose  account  we 
have  undertaken  this  journey.' .  .  .  He  then  asked 
us  where  we  had  formerly  studied ;  and,  as  we 
replied  at  Basle,  he   inquired   how   things    were 
going   on  there,  and  what   Erasmus   was   doing. 
'  Erasmus  is  still  there,  but  what  he  is  about  no 
one  knowcth,  for  he  keepeth  himself  very  quiet 


M.  38.]  RETURN  TO  WITTENBERG.  373 

and  secluded.'  We  were  much  surprised  at  the 
kniffht,  thai  he  should  know  the  Schurfs,  Melanc- 
th.ui  and  Erasmus,  and  that  lie  should  speak  of 
the  necessity  of  studying  Greek  and  Hebrew. 
At  times,  too,  he  made  use  of  Latin  words,  so 
that  we  began  to  think  he  was  something  more 
than  a  common  knight. 

"'Sir,'  said  he,  'what  do  men  in  Switzerland 
think  of  Luther?'  We  replied,  'Variously,  as 
everywhere  else.  Some  cannot  sufficiently  bless 
and  praise  Grod  that  he  hath,  through  this  man, 
made  known  his  truth  and  exposed  error;  others 
condemn  him  as  an  intolerable  heretic.'  'Es- 
pecially the  clergy,'  interrupted  he;  'I  doubt  not 
these  are  the  priests.'  By  this  conversation  we 
were  made  to  feel  ourselves  quite  at  home,  and 
my  companion  [Reutiner]  took  the  book  that  lay 
before  him,  and  looked  into  it,  and  found  it  was  a 
Eebrew  psalter.  He  soon  laid  it  down  again,  and 
the  knight  took  it.  This  increased  our  curiosity 
to  know  who  he  was.  When  the  day  declined 
and  it  grew  dark,  our  host,  knowing  our  desire, 
and  longing  after  Luther,  came  to  the  table  and 
said,  '  Friends,  had  you  been  here  two  days  ago, 
3rou  could  have  had  your  desire,  for  he  sat  here 
at  this  table,'  pointing  to  the  seat.  We  were 
provoked  with  ourselves  that  we  were  too  late, 
and  poured  out  our  displeasure  against  the  bad 
roads  which  had  hindered  us.  After  a  little 
while,  the  host  called  me  to  the  door,  and  said, 
■Since  you  manifest,  so  earnest  a  desire  to  see 
Luther,  you  must  know  that  it  is  he  who  is 
seated   by  you.'     I  took    these   words  as   spoken 

82 


374  LIFE   OF    LUTHER.  [1521. 

in  jest,  and  said,  'You,  to  please  me,  give  me  a 
false  joy  at  seeing  Luther.'  'It  is  indeed  lie,' 
replied  my  host,  'but  make  as  if  you  did  not 
know  it.'  I  went  back  into  the  room  and  to  the 
table,  and  desired  to  tell  my  companion  what  I 
had  heard,  and  turned  to  him  and  said  in  a 
whisper,  '  Our  host  hath  told  me  that  this  is  Lu- 
ther.' He,  like  myself,  was  incredulous.  '  Per- 
haps he  said  Hutten,  and  you  misunderstood  him.' 
As  now  the  knight's  dress  comported  better  with 
the  character  of  Hutten  than  with  that  of  a  monk, 
I  was  persuaded  that  he  said  it  was  Hutten. 
[Two  merchants  now  came  in,  and  they  all  supped 
together.]  Our  host  came,  meanwhile,  to  us,  and 
said  in  a  whisper,  'Don't  be  concerned  about  the 
cost,  for  Martin  hath  paid  the  bill.'  We  rejoiced, 
not  so  much  for  the  gift  or  the  supper,  as  for  the 
honour  of  being  entertained  by  such  a  man.  After 
supper  the  merchants  went  to  the  stable  to  see  to 
their  horses,  and  Martin  remained  with  us  in  the 
room.  We  thanked  him  for  the  honour  shown  us, 
and  gave  him  to  understand  that  we  took  him  for 
Ulrich  von  Hutten.  But  he  said,  '  I  am  not  he.' 
Just  then  came  in  our  host,  and  Martin  said  to 
him,  'I  have  become  a  nobleman  to-night,  for 
these  Swiss  hold  me  to  be  Ulrich  von  Hutten.' 
The  host  replied,  'You  are  not  he,  but  Martin 
Luther.'  He  laughed,  and  said  joeosery,  '  They 
hold  me  to  be  Hutten,  and  you  say  I  am  Luther ; 
I  shall  next  be  Marcolfus,'  [a  notorious  character 
in  the  monkish  legends.]  Afterward  he  took  up 
a  large  beer-glass,  and  said,  '  Swiss,  now  drink  me 
a  health ;'  and  then  arose,  threw  around  him  his 


JE.  38.]  AT   WITTENBERG   AGAIN.  :;;;, 

mantle,  and,  giving  us  his  hand,  took  leave  of  us, 
saying,  '  When  you  come  to  Wittenberg,  greet  Dr. 
Jerome  Schurf  for  me.'  '  Very  gladly,'  said  we  ; 
•  but  whom  shall  we  call  you,  that  he  may  under- 
stand us?'  lie  replied,  '  Say  only  this,  he  who  is 
to  come,  scndeth  you  greeting,'  and  he  will  under- 
stand it.  .  .  .  On  Saturday,  we  went  to  the  house 
of  Schurf  to  present  our  letters ;  and  when  we 
were  conducted  into  the  room,  behold  we  found 
Martin  there  as  at  Jena,  and  with  him  Melanc- 
thon,  Justus  Jonas,  Nicholas  Amsdorf,  and  Dr. 
Augustine  Schurf,  rehearsing  to  him  what  had 
taken  place  at  Wittenberg  during  his  absence. 
lie  greeted  us,  and,  smiling,  said,  '  This  is  Philip 
Melancthon,  of  whom  we  spoke.'  Melancthon 
turned  to  us  and  asked  us  many  questions,  to 
which  we  replied  as  well  as  we  could.  So  we 
spent  the  day  with  them  with  great  delight  and 
gratification  on  our  part." 


Section    III. — Luther  at  Wittenberg  again,   <m<I   hi*    First 
Encounter  with  theturbulent  Populace. 

Luther  arrived  at  Wittenberg  on  Friday,the  7th 
of  March,  and  from  Sunday  the  9th  harangued  the 
people  eight  successive  days  with  overpowering 
eloquence.  All  his  skill  was  put  in  requisition 
to  save  from  shipwreck  the  vessel  laden  with  a 
freight,  containing  all  that  was  precious  to  him. 
In  his  first  discourse,  he  went  hack  and  planted 
himself  upon  the  fundamental  principles  of  tin; 
Christian  religion,  and,  carrying  all  hearts  with 
him  on  these  points,  he  next  proceeded  cautiously, 


876  LIFE   OF    LUTHER.  [1522. 

but  firmly,  to  unfold  these  principles,  and  to  show 
their  application  to  the  case  in  hand,  which  he 
approached  with  the  skill  of  a  master.  His  main 
positions  were  so  strong  and  clear  that  one  was 
the  less  disposed  to  call  in  question  the  use  he 
made  of  them.  The  following  is  a  sketch  of 
what  he  said.  "First,  I  maintain  that  we  are 
all  children  of  wrath,  and  that  all  our  works, 
thoughts  and  feelings  are  sinful  and  nothing  be- 
fore God,  so  that  we  cannot  appear  before  him 
with  them,  how  excellent  soever  and  fine  they 
may  be.  Secondly,  that  God,  of  his  mere  mercy 
and  goodness,  hath  sent  his  only-begotten  Son 
into  the  world,  that  we  might  believe  and  trust 
in  him,  and,  believing,  might  be  free  from  sin 
and  become  the  children  of  God.  In  these  two 
articles  I  find  no  defect  or  fault  in  you.  They 
are  jDreached  to  you  pure  and  uncorrupt.  Thirdly, 
we  must  have  love,  and  by  love  serve  one  another, 
as  God  hath  done  unto  us  by  faith,  without  which 
love  faith  is  nothing,  as  Paul  saith  to  the  Corin- 
thians. Here,  on  this  point,  dear  friends,  you  are 
in  fault ;  for  I  discover  no  trace  of  love  in  you, 
but  observe  that  you  have  been  unthankful  to 
God,  and  that  he  hath,  within  these  few  years, 
bestowed  upon  you  his  treasures  of  grace  in  vain. 
Therefore  let  us  beware  lest  Wittenberg  become 
a  Capernaum.  I  perceive  clearly  that  you  know 
Iioav  to  discourse  upon  the  doctrines  which  are 
preached  unto  you,  such  as  faith  and  also  love. 
But  this  is  no  great  thing,  though  yon  could  say 
much  that  is  good  about  these  virtues.  Even  the 
ass  can  be  taught  to  sing.      Cannot    yon.  then, 


JE.  38.]  AT   AVITTENBERG   AGAIN.  377 

learn  so  much  as  to  repeat  the  words  of  our  faith  ? 
But,  my  dear  friends,  the  kingdom  of  God  standeth 
not  in  speech  or  words,  but  in  power  and  in  deeds. 
God  will  have  not  merely  hearers  and  rehearsers, 
but  followers  and  doers,  who  will  keep  his  words, 
who  will  exercise  themselves  in  faith,  which  work- 
eth by  love.  For  faith  without  love  is  nothing 
worth ;  nay,  it  is  not  faith,  but  its  semblance  only, 
just  as  one's  face  seen  in  a  glass  is  not  the  face 
itself,  but  its  image.  Fourthly,  we  must  also 
exercise  patience.  For  whosoever  hath  faith,  and 
trustcth  in  God,  and  hath  love  to  his  neighbour, 
and  exerciseth  himself  therein,  he  shall  not  be 
without  persecution.  For  Satan  neither  sleepeth 
nor  is  at  rest,  but  maketh  trouble  enough  for  men. 
But  persecution  worketh  patience ;  for  if  I  am 
neither  persecuted  nor  tempted,  I  can  have  little 
to  say  of  patience.  And  patience  worketh  hope, 
which  springeth  up  and  flourisheth  in  God,  and 
putteth  one  not  to  shame.  Thus,  by  many  temp- 
tations and  persecutions,  faith  increaseth  and  is 
strengthened  from  day  to  day. 

"  Such  a  heart,  wherein  faith  so  increaseth,  and 
so  many  virtues  dwell,  cannot  rest,  nor  contain 
itself,  but  must  pour  itself  out  again,  and  do  good 
to  its  neighbour  as  it  hath  received  good  of  the 
Lord.  Here,  my  dear  friends,  each  one  is  not  to 
do  as  he  hath  a  right  to  do,  but  must  relax  from 
his  right,  and  consider  what  is  useful  and  profit- 
able to  his  brother,  as  Paul  did,  who  said  to  the 
Corinthians,  '  I  have  all  power ;  but  all  is  not 
expedient ;'  and,  again,  '  Though  I  am  free  from 
all  men.  yel   have  I  made  myself  the  servant  of 


378  LIFE   OF   LUTHER,  [1522 

all,  that  I  might  win  many.'  In  these  words  of 
Paul,  we  are  instructed  how  we,  who  have  re- 
ceived faith  from  God,  should  conduct  ourselves 
toward  all,  namely,  accommodate  ourselves  to  the 
weakness  of  our  neighbour.  For  we  are  not  all 
equally  strong  in  the  faith.  He  who  is  strong 
to-day,  may  be  weak  to-morrow ;  and  he  who  is 
weak  to-day,  may  be  strong  to-morrow.  There- 
fore we  must  not  consider  our  own  faith  or 
strength  alone,  but  that  of  our  neighbour,  that 
we  may  condescend  to  him,  and  not  offend  him 
by  our  liberty.  We  must  not  forget  how  he  hath 
borne  with  us,  and  had  patience  a  long  time  with 
our  weakness.  We  ought  to  do  likewise  unto  our 
brethren,  till  they  also  shall  become  strong ;  not 
to  storm  at  them,  but  treat  them  kindly,  and  with 
all  meekness  teach  them,  and  not  go  to  heaven 
alone,  but  endeavour  to  bring  our  brother  with 
us.  In  this  respect,  I  perceive  you  have  erred, 
and  some  of  you  gone  very  far.  I  should  not 
have  gone  so  far,  had  I  been  here.  The  thing- 
is  right  enough  in  itself,  but  there  hath  been  too 
great  haste.  There  are  on  the  other  side  brethren 
and  sisters  who  must  be  brought  along  with  us. 
All  those,  therefore,  have  erred,  who  have  given 
their  consent  and  aid  to  doing  away  with  mass ; 
not  but  that  the  act  itself  was  well  enough,  but 
that  it  was  done  violently,  in  disorder,  and  to  the 
offence  of  others.  They  did  not  have  recourse  to 
the  magistrates,  nor  make  any  inquiries  of  them 
beforehand.  They  had  a  good  knowledge  of  the 
Scriptures,  but  had  not  the  Spirit,  else  they 
would  not  have  made  a  law  out  of  that  which  is 


M.  88.]  AT  WITTENBERG  AGAIN.  379 

free.  Therefore  I  say,  and  faithfully  warn  yon, 
if  we  pray  not  earnestly  to  God  and  return  to 
our  duty,  all  the  wretchedness  which  the  Papists 
have  suffered  from  us  will  he  returned  upon  our 
own  heads.  For  this  cause,  I  could  not  remain 
away  longer,  but  felt  constrained  to  come  and  say 
this  to  you." 

This  outline  of  his  first  discourse  may  suffice 
for  a  specimen  of  his  manner.  In  his  second,  he 
carried  out  and  illustrated  the  ideas  with  which 
he  closed  the  first.  In  the  six  remaining  dis- 
courses, he  reasoned  out,  one  by  one,  the  various 
points  on  which  he  wished  to  correct  the  prevail- 
ing popular  sentiment.  Rarely  has  it  happened 
that  one  man,  unaided  by  power, — rather  cramped 
by  it, — by  the  mere  force  of  his  individual  cha- 
racter and  personal  influence,  should  be  able  to 
slay  such  a  popular  excitement,  which  had  al- 
ready carried  away  all  barriers,  and  shown  itself 
superior  to  the  control  of  the  court  and  the  uni- 
versity combined. 

It  is  important  that,  at  this  critical  juncture, 
when  Luther's  character  was  put  to  so  severe  a 
test,  (the  turning  point,  as  it  were,  of  the  whole 
work  of  the  Reformation,)  we  ascertain  as  accu- 
rately as  possible  the  position  from  which  he  con- 
templated  the  extraordinary  scene.  Happily,  we 
have  ample  means  for  such  an  investigation,  in  the 
various  letters  written  to  his  friends  at  the  very 
lime  of  these  occurrences. 

On  the  day  of  his  arrival,  Friday,  the  7th  of 
March,  he  gave  the  elector,  according  to  request 
made  to  him  through  Schurf,  a  statement  of  the 


380  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1522. 

reasons  which  induced  him,  contrary  to  his  instruc- 
tions, to  leave  Warthurg,  and  appear  at  Witten- 
berg. In  this  letter  he  says  :  "  I  may  well  sup- 
pose it  will  appear  objectionable  to  you  that, 
without  youY  grace's  consent  or  permission,  I 
should  return  to  Wittenberg  again ;  for  the  ap- 
pearance is,  that  out  of  it  great  danger  will  arise 
both  to  your  grace  and  to  the  whole  country  and 
people,  and  most  of  all  to  me,  who,  as  one  that  is 
proscribed  and  condemned  both  b}'  the  pope  and 
the  emperor,  am  every  hour  exposed  to  death. 
But  what  shall  I  do  ?  Necessity  j>resseth,  and 
God  urgeth  and  calleth ;  it  must  and  will  be  so ; 
and  so  be  it  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  who  is 
Lord  over  life  and  death.  .  .  .  The  first  reason  is, 
that  I  received  from  the  church  at  Wittenberg  a 
written  request,  beseeching  and  begging  me  to 
come.  Now,  as  no  one  can  deny  that  the  work 
was  begun  by  me,  and  as  I  am  bound  to  hold  my- 
self as  the  obedient  servant  of  that  church  to 
which  God  hath  called  me,  I  could  in  no  way 
refuse,  without  renouncing  Christian  love,  fidelity 
and  service.  .  .  . 

"  The  second  reason  is,  that  during  my  absence 
from  Wittenberg,  Satan  hath  broken  in  upon  my 
flock,  and  hath,  as  all  the  world  exclaimeth — 
and  with  truth — done  mischief  which  I  cannot 
by  writing  arrest,  but  must  manage  by  personal 
presence,  with  living  voice  and  ear.  My  con- 
science would  allow  no  longer  hesitation  or  delay. 
On  this  account,  I  was  obliged  to  disregard  your 
grace's  pleasure  or  displeasure,  and  all  the  world's 
wrath  or  favour.     For  they  are  my  flock,  com- 


M.  88.]  AT   WITTENBERG  AGAIN.  381 

mitted  to  me  of  God ;  thc}r  are  my  children  in 
Christ  ;  and  there  was  no  longer  doubt  whether 
I  should  come  or  not.  I  am  bound  to  suffer 
death  Cor  them,  which,  with  God's  grace,  I  will 
cheerfully  and  joyfully  do,  as  Christ  requireth  in 
the  tenth  chapter  of  John.  .  .  . 

"The  third  reason  is,  that  I  greatly  fear,  and 
alas  !  am  but  too  certain,  that  a  wide-spread  in- 
surrection will  break  out  in  Germany,  wherewith 
God  will  punish  this  nation.  For  we  see  that  the 
gospel  pleaseth  the  people  much,  and  they  turn  it 
to  a  carnal  account;  they  see  that  it  is  true,  and 
yet  will  not  make  a  right  use  of  it.  To  this  end 
do  those  contribute  who  ought  to  quell  such  in- 
surrection. They  seek  to  quench  the  light,  but 
do  not  consider  that  they  thereby  imbitter  men's 
hearts,  and  drive  them  to  rebellion,  so  that  they 
act  as  if  they  would  destroy  themselves,  or,  at 
least,  their  children,  [the  next  generation,  by  civil 
war,]  which  God  no  doubt  sendeth  as  a  judgment 
upon  us.  For  the  spiritual  tyranny  is  weakened, 
for  whose  downfall  alone  I  laboured,  but  now  I 
perceive  God  will  go  further  with  it,  and  over- 
throw both  the  spiritual  and  the  civil  rule,  as  in 
Jerusalem.  I  have  lately  seen  that  not  only  the 
spiritual,  but  the  temporal  power  must  give  way 
before  the  gospel,  whether  it  be  by  consent  or  by 
constraint,  as  is  clearly  taught  in  all  Bible  history. 
Nowt,  God  requireth  in  Ezekiel,  that  we  should 
set  up  ourselves  in  defence,  as  a  wall,  for  the  peo- 
ple. Therefore,  I  have  thought  it  necessary  to 
consult  with  my  friends,  to  see  if  we  could  not 
ward  off,  or  delay  God's  judgment. " 


382  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1522. 

To  Spalatin  he  wrote  the  same  day :  "  Satan 
hath  attempted  to  do  much  mischief  here  in  my 
fold,  in  such  a  way  that  it  will  he  difficult  to  meet 
the  case  without  offence  to  both  parties.  See  to 
it  that  no  innovation  he  allowed  to  be  made  either 
by  common  consent  or  by  violence.  By  the  word 
alone  must  error  be  assaulted,  dislodged,  over- 
thrown and  done  away,  which  our  friends  here, 
impelled  by  Satan,  have,  in  their  first  zeal,  at- 
tempted to  carry  by  storm.  I  condemn  as  an  abo- 
mination the  papal  mass,  which  is  made  a  sacrifice 
and  a  good  work,  whereby  a  man  is  restored  to 
favour  with  God.  But  I  will  not,  therefore,  resort 
to  force,  or  persuade  one  who  is  without  faith, 
much  less  compel  him,  to  do  it  away  with  vio- 
lence. Only  through  the  word  will  I  condemn 
the  abuse  of  the  mass.  Whosoever  will  believe, 
let  him  believe,  and  follow  unconstrained;  and 
whosoever  will  not  believe,  let  him  disbelieve  and 
go  his  way;  for  no  one  should  be  forced  to  faith, 
or  to  any  thing  pertaining  to  the  faith,  but  should 
be  drawn  to  it  and  won  by  the  word.  Then,  who- 
soever believeth  without  constraint  will  freely  fol- 
low. I  also  reject  the  images  which  men  wor- 
ship ;  but  I  do  it  through  the  word,  not  urging 
men  to  burn  them  up,  but  rather  not  to  put  their 
trust  in  them,  as  others  have  done, -and  still  do. 
The  images  will  fall  of  themselves,  if  the  people 
are  instructed  through  the  word,  and  learn  that 
they  are  nothing  before  God.  So  likewise  do  I 
condemn  the  papal  laws  about  auricular  confes- 
sion, going  at  stated  times  to  the  holy  sacrament, 
praying  to  saints  and  fasting;  but  I  do  it  through 


M.  38.]  AT   WITTENBERG   AGAIN.  383 

the  word  to  free  the  conscience  from  these 
shackles.  When  that  is  done,  then  they  can 
either  continue  to  use  theni  on  account  of  the 
weak  who  are  still  entangled  with  them,  or  they 
can  do  those  observances  away,  if  others  are 
already  strong.  Thus,  charity  may  prevail  in 
these  outward  works  and  laws.  Now7,  I  am  most 
displeased  with  our  people,  (and  the  populace  wTho 
are  drawn  with  them,)  that  they  let  the  word  and 
faith  and  charity  go,  and  glory  that  they  are 
Christians,  simply  because  they  (not  without 
offence  to  the  weak)  can  eat  meat,  eggs,  milk, 
&c,  lay  hold  of  the  eucharist  with  their  own 
hands,  and  omit  the  fastings  and  prayers." 

Luther  went  further,  however,  than  to  censure 
violence  instead  of  persuasion  in  matters  of  reli* 
gion.  He  condemned  the  removal  of  images  from 
the  churches,  the  omission  of  the  mass  ceremo- 
nies, of  the  prescribed  fastings  and  prayers,  and 
the  touching  of  the  bread  and  wine,  on  the  part 
of  the  laity,  with  their  owm  hands,  because  such 
things,  though  innocent  in  themselves,  shocked 
the  feelings  of  many  pious  persons.  If,  in  these 
respects,  we  grant  that  Luther  acted  as  he  did, 
not  wholly  without  reason,  we  must  also  concede 
that  the  new  practice  which  he  censured  in  the 
other  party,  was  neither  unnatural,  nor  altogether 
unreasonable.  High  authority  could  have  been 
pleaded  on  the  other  side,  as  in  fact  it  was 
pleaded. 


384  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1522. 

Section  IV. —  General  Narrative  of  Events  from  1522  to 
1525. 

He  who  is  accustomed  to  recognise  the  pre- 
sence of  a  superintending  Providence  in  human 
affairs,  will  not  fail  to  perceive  the  hand  of  God 
in  the  peculiar  direction  given  to  public  events  in 
Germany  about  the  time  of  Luther's  return  to 
Wittenberg.  Luther  himself  was  defenceless, 
and  both  the  papal  and  imperial  authority  was 
arrayed  against  him  and  employed  to  put  in  exe- 
cution the  severe  edict  of  Worms.  The  cause  of 
the  Reformation  seemed,  moreover,  to  be  weak- 
ened by  the  disorders  prevailing  at  Wittenberg 
and  in  several  other  towns,  and  destroying  the 
confidence  of  men  in  respect  to  the  tendencies  of 
Luther's  great  enterprise. 

George,  Duke  of  Saxony,  and  the  Elector  of 
Brandenburg,  were  ready  to  execute  that  bloody 
edict,  and  seize  Luther  and  his  associates;  but 
the  great  influence  of  the  Elector  Frederic,  his 
caution  and  wisdom  had  hitherto  preserved  Lu- 
ther from  a  violent  death.  And  now,  when  the 
elector's  plans  were  all  baffled  by  what  seemed  to 
him  the  imprudence  and  rashness  of  the  reformer, 
and  when  lie  could  find  no  plausible  ground  for 
refusing,  if  the  pope  and  the  emperor  should  de- 
mand that  Luther  be  delivered  into  their  hands, 
behold  Leo  X.  was  removed  by  death,  in  Decem- 
ber of  1521,  and  was  succeeded  by  Hadrian  VI., 
who  for  nearly  two  years  continued  to  maintain 
a  new  policy,  entirely  against  the  views  of  his 
court;  and  Charles  V.  was,  meanwhile,  so  occu- 


^E.  38.J  NARRATIVE  OF  EVENTS.     .  385 

pied  in  his  war  with  France  as  not  to  be  able  to 
visit  Germany,  but  was  obliged  to  intrust  its  go- 
vernment to  his  brother  Ferdinand.  Under  these 
remarkable  circumstances,  Frederic  was  relieved 
from  his  embarrassment,  and  Luther  could  go  on 
undisturbed  in  his  work. 

Though  the  edict  was  still  nominally  in  force, 
yet  in  most  of  the  middle  of  Germany  the  senti- 
ments of  the  intelligent  and  virtuous  were  so  on 
the  side  of  truth  and  justice  that  the  edict  was 
disregarded.  This  period,  therefore,  was  the  very 
one  in  which  the  public  mind  was  enlisted  in  the 
cause  of  the  Reformation.  The  unjust  and  cruel, 
Itut  unsuccessful  attempts  of  the  Catholic  princes, 
instead  of  terrifying  men  into  submission  to 
their  authority,  had  the  contrary  effect,  and 
aroused  the  indignation  which  always  follows  an 
attempt  to  do  violence  to  the  moral  sense  of  the 
people. 

From  this  time  onward,  Luther's  labours,  at 
home  and  abroad,  were  greater  than  ever.  Wher- 
ever a  town  or  even  an  individual  manifested  a 
Love  for  the  evangelical  doctrines,  there  Luther 
was  either  personally  presenl  to  aid  by  public 
preaching  and  private  conversation,  or  sent  let- 
ters of  encouragement,  consolation  and  counsel. 
Wherever  the  radical  party  spread  their  doctrines 
and  made  disturbance,  there  none  but  Luther 
could  appear  cither  with  safety,  or  with  any  hope 
of  success,  to  quell  the  difficulty.  Wherever  the 
Catholics  made  an  attack  or  exercised  cruelty 
against  the  converts  to  the  doctrines  of  the  Re- 
formation, there  Luther,  as  the  bishop  of  all  such 


386  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1522. 

flocks  and  individuals,  was  quick  to  show  his 
sympathy  and  extend  his  powerful  aid. 

In  April,  1522,  he  went  to  Zwickau,  and  was 
obliged  to  pass  through  the  dominions  of  Duke 
George,  at  no  small  hazard,  to  reduce  to  order  the 
excited  population  of  that  town,  where  Muncer 
and  his  colleagues  made  their  first  attempts  to 
revolutionize  the  church  and  the  state.  On  the 
way  thither,  he  preached  at  Borna,  and  at  Alten- 
burg.*  He  lodged  in  Zwickau  with  the  burgo- 
master, and  preached  in  the  town-hall,  in  the 
castle,  and  in  one  of  the  churches.  It  was  said 
that  twenty-five  thousand  people  from  the  adjoin- 
ing towns  came  to  see  and  hear  him.  On  his 
return,  he  preached  twice  at  Borna,  and  then  pro- 
ceeded to  Eilenburg,  and  thence  to  Wittenberg. 

For  similar  reasons,  he  made  a  journey  to  Er- 
furt in  October  of  the  same  year.  The  same 
spirit  of  speedy,  if  not  violent  reform,  in  respect 
to  doing  away  with  images,  mass  and  the  invoca- 
tion of  saints,  which  had  manifested  itself  at 
Wittenberg,  was  early  active  in  Erfurt.  After 
several  letters  on  the  subject,  Luther,  in  company 
with  Melancthon,  Agricola  and  two  others,  visited 
the  place  in  person.  The  day  before  reaching  it, 
he  preached  at  Weimar.  On  approaching  Erfurt, 
Luther  descended  from  the  carriage,  and  passed 
through  the  gate  privately,  in  order  to  avoid 
the  crowd  which  came  out  to  welcome  him  or 
to  see  him.     In  the  evening,  which  was  passed 


*  Borna  is  fifteen  miles,  Altenburg  twenty-five,  and  Zwickau 
forty-five  south  of  Lcipsic.  Eilenburg  is  fifteen  mile3  north-east 
of  Leipsic. 


M.  38.]  NARRATIVE  OF  EVENTS.  387 

at  the  parsonage  of  one  of  the  churches,  he  was 
visited  by  multitudes  of  persons.  He  preached 
there  three  times  the  two  following  days,  and 
then  returned  to  Weimar,  where  he  remained 
some  time,  preaching  every  day. 

Of  his  numerous  writings  published  in  1522, 
no  particular  account  can  be  expected  here.  Be- 
sides writing  the  interesting  letter  to  the  knight 
Von  Kronberg,  son-in-law  of  Von  Sickingen,  he 
had  a  very  violent  controversy  with  Duke  George 
and  Henry  VIII.  of  England,  or  rather  with  Sir 
Thomas  Afore.  Though  these  potentates,  who 
undertook  to  dabble  in  theology  and  to  instruct 
Luther  therein,  deserved  no  better  treatment  than 
they  received  from  his  hands,  Luther  himself  suf- 
fered in  the  estimation  of  many  wise  and  good 
men  from  the  intemperate  violence,  and  even 
ribaldry,  in  which  tic  freely  indulged. 

The  history  of  the  diet  of  Nuremberg,  which 
was  in  session  (luring  the  whole  winter  of  1523, 
while  it  is  too  complicated  to  find  a  place  in  a 
brief  biography,  is  too  important  and  too  closely 
connected  with  Luther's  fortunes  to  be  omitted 
altogether. 

The  Turks  had  broken  in  upon  Hungary,  and 
were  approaching  the  frontiers  of  the  German 
empire.  Charles  V.,  who  had  undertaken  to 
check  them,  was  obliged  to  hasten  to  Spain  to 
put  down  the  insurrections  which  had  sprung  up 
there  during  his  residence  in  Germany.  His  bro- 
ther Ferdinand,  whom  he  had  appointed  vicar  of 
the  empire,  called  the  diet  above  mentioned,  in 
the  emperor's  name,  to  engage  the  estates  in  a 


388  LIFE    OF    LUTHER.  [1523. 

war  of  defence  and  reprisal.  The  emperor,  in  a 
letter  from  Valladolid,  endeavoured  to  persuade 
the  pope  to  contribute  from  the  ecclesiastical 
fluids  to  support  the  war,  adding,  as  a  special 
inducement,  that  the  same  military  power  might, 
before  being  disbanded,  be  employed  to  destroy 
the  Lutheran  sect  by  the  sword. 

Hadrian  paid  little  regard  to  the  emperor's  chief 
object;  but  resolved  to  make  use  of  the  diet  to 
further  his  own  ends  in  eradicating  the  Lutheran 
heresy.  After  taking  the  preliminary  measures, 
and  inviting  the  co-operation  of  the  princes — and 
even  threatening  the  Elector  Frederic,  if  he  should 
refuse  to  unite — the  pope,  through  his  legate, 
urged  the  diet  no  longer  to  suffer  the  edict  of 
Worms  to  remain  without  effect,  but  to  crush  the 
heresy  of  Luther  by  the  arm  of  the  civil  power, 
if  milder  measures  did  not  succeed.  To  give  new 
weight  to  his  arguments,  which  met  with  opposi- 
tion, he  confessed  the  corruption  not  only  of  the 
priests  and  prelates,  but  of  the  cardinals  and  popes 
themselves;  and  promised  (with  all  sincerity)  to 
institute  a  reformation  which  should,  in  a  proper 
manner,  accomplish  all  that  Luther  undertook  to 
effect  in  an  improper  manner.  This  concession 
and  promise,  so  far  from  promoting  his  object, 
served  only  to  defeat  it.  The  Roman  courtiers 
and  prelates  desired  no  such  reform.  The  party 
which  sympathized  with  Luther  turned  the  con- 
fessions to  a  good  account.  A  committee  was 
appointed  to  draft  a  statement  in  reply  to  a  com- 
munication of  the  legate,  and  John  of  Schwart- 
zenburgj  ;i  man  of  learning  and  talent,  and  warmly 


M.  39.]  NARRATIVE  OF  EVENTS.  389 

in  the  interest  of  the  evangelical  party,  was  chair- 
man of  the  committee.  With  great  moderation 
and  judgment  was  that  document  prepared,  which 
stated,  thai  it  was  impossible  to  put  in  execution 
the  edict  of  Worms,  in  respect  to  Luther,  so  long 
as  the  court  of  Home,  which  Luther  had  justly 
exposed  to  contempt,  remained  in  its  corruption, 
and  unreformed.  It  recommended  referring  the 
whole  matter  to  a  general  council,  the  preachers 
moan  while  adhering  to  the  doctrines  of  the  ancient 
church,  and  Luther  and  his  friends  refraining  from 
writing  and  publishing.  With  slight  modifica- 
tions, advocated  by  the  Archbishop  of  Mainz  and 
others,  the  draft  prepared  was  adopted  by  the 
diet,  to  the  great  mortification  and  indignation  of 
the  legate.  Plaunitz,  the  deputy  of  the  Elector 
of  Saxony,  who  was  not  present,  was  the  chief 
diplomatist  in  the  interest  of  Luther,  and  well 
did  he  and  Schwartzenburg  concert  their  measures 
lor  baffling  the  papal  counsels.  Felitzsch,  the 
ambassador  of  Frederic,  would  not  yield  so  much 
as  his  associates  did,  and  protest  oil.  in  the  name 
of  his  prince,  against  the  prohibition  laid  upon 
Luther  in  respect  to  publishing  his  opinions.  Lu- 
ther himself,  however,  was  very  well  satisfied 
with  the  main  features  of  the  order  passed  by  the 
diet,  pronouncing  it  '"remarkably  liberal  and  ac- 
ceptable." Inasmuch  as  the  enemies  of  Luther 
interpreted  this  recess,  as  it  is  called,  so  as  to 
make  it  appear  condemnatory  of  the  cause  of 
tie'  Reformation,  and  confirmatory  of  the  decision 
passed  at  the  diet  of  Worms,  Luther  addressed  a 
public  Letter  to  the  vicar  and  government  of  the 


390  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1523. 

empire,  in  which  lie  gave  a  different  interpreta- 
tion. Tims  the  plans  and  schemes  of  the  pope 
and  his  ministers,  to  engage  the  German  diet  in  a 
crusade  against  the  new  heresy,  failed  utterly  of 
their  object.  The  Protestant  writers,  who  com- 
plain of  the  doings  of  the  diet,  do  not,  perhaps, 
sufficiently  consider  how  many  chances  there  were 
of  coming  to  a  result  incomparably  worse,  and 
how  much  skill  and  effort  it  required,  in  a  few,  to 
take  such  advantage  of  the  circumstances  to  ward 
off  the  evil. 

The  result  above  mentioned  was  merely  nega- 
tive. Luther  and  his  friends  were  in  the  same 
state  of  insecurity  as  before.  The  elector  was 
often  alarmed,  and  it  required  all  the  ability  and 
boldness  of  Luther  to  inspire  him  with  confidence. 
In  such  a  state  of  things,  it  was  to  be  expected 
that  the  followers  of  Luther,  in  Catholic  terri- 
tories, should  be  bitterly  and  cruelly  persecuted. 
To  this  class  of  sufferers  Luther  directed  his  par- 
ticular attention. 

Three  ladies  had  been  dismissed  from  the  court 
of  Henry,  Duke  of  Saxony,  for  having  read  the 
writings  of  Luther.  Henry  himself,  who  then  re- 
sided at  Freiberg,  was  favourably  disposed  toward 
Luther;  but  he  was  forced  to  this  measure  by 
his  brother  George,  the  reigning  duke.  Luther, 
though  a  stranger  to  these  ladies,  addressed  to 
them  (June  IS,  1523)  a  consolatory  letter,  urging 
them  to  Christian  fortitude  and  patience.  "  Sub- 
mit patiently,"  he  says,  "and  let  Christ  work. 
He  will  abundantly  avenge  you  of  your  wrong, 
and  raise  you  higher  than  you  could  wish,  if  you 


M.  39.]  NARRATIVE   OF   EVENTS.  391 

will  only  leave  the  matter,  and  commit  it  all  to 
him." 

In  July  of  the  same  year,  he  writes  to  his  friend 
Crotus  :  "k  Two  brethren  have  already  been  burnt 
at  Brussels,  and  a  third  has  been  degraded  (as 
they  call  it)  and  sent  into  some  unknown  Assyria 
or  Babylon.  The  papal  priests  rage  with  incredi- 
ble madness  against  Christ.  Some  of  them  write 
accursed  and  blasphemous  things.  This  is  their 
obedience  to  the  imperial  [Nuremberg]  edict,  re- 
ferring our  dispute  to  a  future  council.  Thus 
far  I  have  kept  quiet,  [as  the  edict  required  :] 
but,  if  they  go  on  thus,  I  too  shall  bid  adieu  to 
the  edict — not  to  burn,  imprison,  or  do  any  vio- 
lence— for  this  is  not  the  part  of  Christians — but 
to  defend,  by  word  of  mouth  and  by  writing,  the 
glory  of  the  Scriptures,  and  to  expose  still  further 
the  abominations  of  the  papacy." 

He  addressed  a  letter,  worthy  of  Tertullian  or 
of  Cyprian,  to  the  Christians  in  Holland,  Brabant 
and  Flanders,  congratulating  them  "  that  God  is 
causing  his  marvellous  light  to  shine  again,  and 
that  the  voice  of  the  turtle-dove  is  heard,  and  the 
flowers  appear  on  the  earth."  The  correspond- 
ence of  Luther,  in  the  years  lo'2'2  and  L523,  is 
very  rich  in  such  specimens  of  Christian  sym- 
pathy; the  instances  in  which  he  intercedes  for 
the  poor,  the  afflicted  and  the  outcast,  being  al- 
most innumerable.  At  one  time,  he  asks  of  the 
elector  charity  for  an  aged  and  feeble  monk,  who, 
from  conscientious  scruples,  has  abandoned  his 
cell;  at  another,  for  nine  nuns,  who  were  aban- 
doned by  their  relations  for  having  laid  aside  the 


392  LIFE    OF    LUTHER.  [1520. 

veil.  Now,  he  takes  the  part  of  a  pious  preacher, 
who  has  been  driven  from  his  post  for  having 
preached  evangelical  doctrines,  or  having  taken 
a  wife ;  and  now,  he  writes  letters  of  encourage- 
ment to  the  handful  of  believers  wTho  venture  to 
confess  Christ,  in  various  towns  and  cities.  Be- 
sides, his  opinions  were  asked  on  so  many  ques- 
tions, laid  before  him  by  princes  and  nobles,  by 
magistrates  and  town-councils,  by  scholars  and 
theologians,  by  ecclesiastics,  monks  and  nuns,  on 
all  points  connected  with  the  change  he  intro- 
duced in  respect  to  man's  ecclesiastical  and  social 
relations,  that  he  was  often  obliged  to  excuse 
himself  for  want  of  time,  and  refer  them  to  his 
writings,  to  other  religious  teachers,  and  to  the 
Bible. 

Hadrian  VI.,  the  reforming  but  narrow-minded 
pope,  lived  less  than  two  years  after  his  acces- 
sion to  the  apostolical  chair.  He  was  succeeded 
(Nov.  19,  1523)  by  Clement  VII.,  a  wily  politi- 
cian of  the  family  of  the  Medici,  whose  intriguing 
policy  better  pleased  the  corrupt  Roman  court. 
At  the  next  German  diet,  held  in  the  begin- 
ning of  1524,  Campegius,  the  papal  legate,  and 
Haunart,  the  orator  sent  from  Spain  by  the  em- 
peror to  represent  his  views,  acted  in  concert 
against  Luther,  as  Charles  at  that  time  felt  the 
need  of  the  pope's  assistance  in  his  war  with 
France.  Though  their  councils  prevailed  in  part 
in  the  diet,  the  resistance  of  the  Elector  Frederic 
and  some  others  was  so  decided  thai  the  danger 
of  Luther  was  but  slightly  increased.  So  far  was 
he  from  being  terrified  by  the  new  Niiremburg 


M.  39. J  NARRATIVE   OF   EVENTS.  393 

edict,  which  enforced  the  edict  of  Worms,  while 
il  provided  for  the  settlement  of  the  religious 
differences  at  the  next  diet  to  be  held  at  Spire, 
that  he  published  the  two  edicts  together,  with 
satirical  comments,  under  the  title  of  "Two  Irre- 
concilable and  Contradictory  Imperial  Orders  re- 
specting Luther."  In  the  preface,  lie  says,  "It 
is  scandalous  that  the  emperor  and  the  princes 
deal  openly  in  falsehood,  and,  what  is  more  scan- 
dalous still,  issue  contradictory  commands,  as  you 
here  see.  lam  to  be  seized  and  punished  accord- 
ing to  the  decision  made  at  the  diet  of  Worms; 
and  yet,  at  a  future  diet,  to  be  held  at  Spire,  my 
teachings  are  to  be  examined.  So  I  am  at  one 
and  the  same  time  condemned  and  referred  to  a 
future  trial;  and  my  countrymen  are  to  treat 
me  as  an  outlaw,  and  then  wait  to  see  me  con- 
demned." 

Of  the  controversies  in  which  Luther  was  en- 
gaged  at  the  close  of  this  period,  or  from  1523  to 
L525,  we  will  mention  only  those  which  tended 
to  check  the  progress  of  the  Reformation,  namely. 
his  controversies  with  Erasmus  on  the  freedom  of 
the  will;  with  Carlstadl  on  the  real  presence  in 
the  eucharisl  ;  and  with  Muncer  and  the  peasants 
on  civil  government. 

The  controversy  with  Erasmus  derived  its  im- 
mediate importance  from  his  great  personal  influ- 
ence, and  from  the  support  lie  had  indirectly 
given  to  the  cause  of  the  Reformation.  Doth 
parties  had  been  eager  to  claim  him,  and  il  was 
long  doubtful  which  side  he  would  espouse.  But, 
from  our  point  of  view,  we  are  led  to  attach  still 


394  LIFE   OF  LUTHER.  [1523. 

greater  importance  to  the  remoter  consequences, 
those  which  are  connected  with  the  subject  of 
the  controversy ;  for,  at  a  subsequent  period, 
both  Melancthon  and  the  Lutheran  church  aban- 
doned the  predestinarian  view  maintained  by  Lu- 
ther, and  became  converts,  in  part,  to  the  doctrine 
advocated  by  Erasmus. 

Luther  had  long  been  suspicious  of  Erasmus, 
and,  in  a  letter  to  (Ecolampadius,  (June  20, 1523,) 
he  gave  utterance  to  his  impressions  of  him  in 
these  words  :  "  Although  I  here  and  there  feel 
his  sharp  arrows,  yet,  as  he  pretendeth  not  to  be 
my  enemy,  so  I  pretend  not  to  understand  his 
manoeuvres,  though  I  see  through  him  better  than 
he  supposeth.  He  hath  accomplished  that  to 
which  he  was  called.  He  hath  introduced  the 
languages,  and  recalled  men  from  their  impious 
studies.  Perhaps,  with  Moses,  he  is  to  die  in 
the  land  of  Moab,  for,  to  better  studies,  which 
pertain  to  piety,  he  doth  not  advance.  I  could 
most  earnestly  desire  that  he  would  abstain  from 
treating  of  the  Scriptures  and  from  his  para- 
phrases ;  for  he  is  not  equal  to  this  task,  and 
only  impedeth  his  readers  in  a  knowledge  of  the 
Scriptures.  It  is  enough  for  him  to  have  pointed 
out  what  is  evil ;  to  reveal  what  is  good,  and  to 
lend  to  the  land  of  promise,  is,  as  I  now  see,  more 
than  he  can  do." 

A  letter  of  his,  written  in  May,  1522,  had  been 
injudiciously  published,  in  which  ho  had  said:  "I 
knew  before  that  Mosellanus  agreed  with  Erasmus 
mi  predestination.  But  I  think  Erasmus  knoweth 
less  of  predestination  than  the  sophistical  scholas- 


M.  89.]  NARRATIVE  OF   EVENTS.  395 

tics  know.  Nor  do  I  fear  thai  T  shall  fall,  if  I  do 
not  change  my  sentiments.  Erasmus  is  not  for- 
midable in  this  matter,  nor  is  he  generally  in  what 
pertaineth  to  Christianity.  .  .  .  T  will  not  provoke 
him  to  combat,  nor,  if  he  provoke  me  once  and 
again,  will  I  immediately  resent.  Nevertheless  it 
seemeth  to  me  not  good  for  him  to  try  the  powers 
of  his  eloquence  on  me.  ...  If,  however,  he  will 
have  a  hand  in  the  game,  he  shall  sec  that  Christ 
is  afraid  neither  of  the  gates  of  hell,  nor  of  the 
powers  of  the  air;  and  I,  though  a  stammerer,  will 
boldly  meet  the  eloquent  Erasmus  without  regard 
to  his  authority,  name,  or  favour.  .  .  .  Salute 
Mosellanus  in  my  name.  I  am  not  estranged 
from  him  because  he  followeth  Erasmus  rather 
than  me.  Tell  him  to  be  a  lusty  Erasmian.  The 
time  will  come  when  he  will  think  otherwise." 

Referring  to  these  two  letters,  he  says,  (Oct.  1, 
1523:)  "My  private  letter  concerning  Erasmus, 
and  another  written  to  (Ecolampadius,  have  been 
published,  which  he  taketh  very  ill.  Although  I 
have  not  a  single  word  to  take  back,  if  called  to 
defend  myself,  I  am  nevertheless  not  well  pleased 
that  letters,  written  in  confidence  to  intimate 
friends,  should  be  made  public  by  informers.  But 
the  writings  of  Erasmus  will  not  harm  me,  if 
directed  against  me;  neither  will  they  give  me 
confidence,  if  they  support  me.  I  have  one  who 
will  defend  my  cause,  though  all  the  world  rage 
against  what  Erasmus  calleth  my  pertinacity.  .  .  . 
I  am  resolved  not  to  defend  my  manner  of  life 
and  character,  but  the  cause  only.  Let  whoso- 
ever will,  mangle  my  character  as  heretofore.  .  .  . 


396  LIFE    OF   LUTHER.  [1524. 

I  am  sorrowful  and  afraid  when  I  am  praised,  and 
joyful  when  reproached  and  maligned.  If  this 
seemeth  strange  to  Erasmus,  I  do  not  wonder. 
Let  him  learn  Christ,  and  bid  adieu  to  human 
wisdom.  The  Lord  enlighten  him  and  make 
another  man  of  him." 

Luther  knew  that  the  Papists,  and  particularly 
the  pope  himself,  had  urged  Erasmus  to  come  out 
against  him.  He  was  long  kept  in  painful  sus- 
pense, expecting  either  an  open  attack  or  a  private 
expostulation,  and  yet  receiving  neither.  lie  finally 
broke  the  silence  in  a  letter  to  Erasmus,  holding 
out  the  olive  of  peace,  but  in  a  way  that  did  not 
flatter  the  vanity  of  the  man  who  had  long  been 
regarded  as  an  oracle. 

"  I  have  long  kept  silence,"  he  writes,  (April 
1524,)  "that  you,  as  the  greater  and  older,  might 
break  it.  But,  having  waited  so  long  in  vain, 
Christian  charity,  I  think,  compelleth  me  to  make 
the  beginning.  First,  I  will  not  complain  that 
you  have  stood  aloof  from  me,  in  order  to  be  on 
better  and  safer  terms  with  the  Papists,  my  ene- 
mies. Nor  do  I  take  it  ill  that  you  have,  in  some 
passages  in  your  published  works,  for  the  sake  of 
securing  their  favour  or  mitigating  their  wrath, 
used  some  bitter  and  biting  expressions  relating 
to  me ;  for  I  perceive  that  the  Lord  hath  not  yd 
given  you  the  fortitude  and  courage  to  join  me  in 
cheerfully  and  boldly  meeting  those  monsters  with 
which  I  have  to  contend.  I  am  not  one  to  exact  of 
you  what  is  above  your  powers  and  your  measure. 
But  I  tolerate  your  weakness,  and  honour  the 
measure   of  the  gifts   bestowed  on  you  of  God. 


JE.  40.]  NARRATIVE  OF   EVENTS.  397 

The  whole  world  must  own  that  it  is  a  great  gift 

of  God  in  you,  and  one  for  which  we  ought  to  be 

thankful,  thai  through  you  letters  have  been  made 

to  flourish  and  prevail,  to  the  manifest  aid  of  the 

study  of  the  Bible.     It  was  never  my  desire  that 

you  should  desert  or  neglect  your  gift,  and  mingle 

in  my  combats,  wherein  your  genius  and  eloquence 

would,  indeed,  avail  much.     But,  as  you  lack  the 

courage,  it  is  safer  for  you  to  cultivate  your  own 

gift.     1  have  only  feared  this,  that  my  adversaries 

would  persuade  you  to  assail  my  doctrines,  which 

would  compel  me  to  resist  you  to  the  face.   .   .   . 

So  much  did  I  wish  to  say,  as  evidence  of  my 

candid  feelings  toward  you ;   and  I  desire  that  a 

spirit  may  be  given  you  of  the  Lord,  worthy  of 

your  name.     But  if  it  should  not  yet  be  given 

you,  I  beg  you,  if  you  can  do  nothing  more,  to  be 

a  mere  spectator  of  my  tragedy,  and  not  join  my 

adversaries  with  your  troops,  and   especially  to 

publish   no   books   against  me,  as  I  will  publish 

none  against  you." 

That  so  sensitive  a  man  as  Erasmus  should  feel 

keenly  on  the  reception  of  this  Letter  is  what  might 

be  anticipated.      He  replied  with  evident  emotion, 

repelling  the  charge  of  timidity  and  dissimulation, 

and  claiming  to  have  served  the  gospel  far  better 

than  many  infatuated  writers  who  make  themselves 

important  under  its  abused  name.     The  influence 

of  Henry  VIII.,  his  patron,  being  added  to  that 

of  the  papal  court,  prevailed;  and  in  September, 

L524,  Erasmus  opened  his  batteries  upon  Luther, 

who  replied  with  unsparing  severity.     Whatever 

be   the   merits   of  this   controversy — and   it   was 

34 


308  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1524. 

conducted  with  distinguished  learning  on  the  one 
side,  and  distinguished  ability  on  the  other — Eras- 
mus confesses  that  he  was  influenced  not  wholly 
by  a  love  of  truth,  but  also  by  the  fear  of  his  ene- 
mies, the  monks,  who  were  exciting  against  him, 
as  a  secret  favourer  of  Luther's  doctrines,  the  ill- 
will  of  the  court  of  Rome  and  of  several  poten- 
tates, whose  protection  and  patronage  he  could 
not  consent  to  lose.  Here,  as  everywhere,  the 
otherwise  virtuous  and  well-disposed  Erasmus  cal- 
culated nicely  his  own  personal  interest.  Thus 
these  two  great  and,  for  the  most  part,  good  men, 
became  inveterate  enemies  of  each  other.  Luther 
never  loved  those  who  taught  differently  from 
himself.  Carlstadt,  Erasmus  and  Zwingle,  when 
they  opposed  any  of  his  views,  were  no  less  he- 
retical than  Muncer.  This  was  a  fault  in  Luther's 
character. 

A  few  words  from  Luther's  letter  to  a  friend 
(March  30,  1522)  will  be  sufficient  to  remind  us 
of  his  relations  to  Carlstadt  at  that  time.  He 
there  remarks :  "  I  have  offended  Carlstadt,  be- 
cause I  have  put  a  stop  to  his  measures,  though  I 
did  not  condemn  his  doctrines,  except  that  I  did 
not  approve  of  his  labouring  so  for  mere  ceremo- 
nies and  external  forms,  while  the  true  Christian 
teaching,  that  of  faith  and  charity,  is  neglected. 
For,  by  his  foolish  manner  of  preaching,  the 
people  were  led  to  think  they  were  Christians 
from  the  sole  consideration  (which  is  nothing  at 
all)  that,  in  the  communion,  they  partook  both  of 
the  bread  and  the  wine ;  that  they  handled  them ; 
that  they  did  not  go  to  confession ;  and  that  they 


M.  40.]  NARRATIVE  OF   EVENTS.  399 

broke  down  the  images.  Behold  Satan's  malice, 
in  resorting  to  this  new  expedient  to  destroy  the 
gospel !" 

Carlstadt  had  explained  his  position  thus : 
"That  we  are  sometimes  at  variance,  is  because 
we  do  not  stand  by  the  word  of  God,  and  think 
we  may,  by  our  reason,  devise  something  that  will 
please  him.  On  this  wise  arc  we  disagreed  on 
the  article  of  confession.  For  my  part,  I  have 
followed  the  Scriptures,  and  appeal  to  my  candid 
hearers.  I  have  also  requested  the  magistrates 
to  forbid,  under  a  severe  penalty,  preaching  any 
thing  which  the  Scriptures  do  not  contain  and 
teach.  Death  itself  shall  not  drive  me  away  from 
the  Scriptures.  For  I  know  that  nothing  pleaseth 
God  but  what  doth  conform  to  his  holy  word.  .  .  . 
Therefore  I  shall  build  exclusively  on  the  word 
of  God,  not  regarding  what  others  teach.  I  know 
that  I  shall  offend  only  those  who  are  not  Chris- 
tians." These  words  have  been  pronounced,  by 
historians,  haughty  and  insolent.  Had  Luther 
uttered  them,  they  would  have  been  pronounced 
heroic. 

If  Carlstadt  did  not  act  according  to  this  stand- 
ard— if  he  was  fanatical,  envious,  or  unkind  in  his 
opposition  to  Luther — that  is  quite  another  mat- 
ter. Carlstadt  was  at  first  compelled  by  the 
elector  to  promise  not  to  preach  to  the  people  in 
the  way  he  had  done.  After  restraining  himself 
about  three  months,  till  April,  15_!2,  he  resolved 
to  publish  his  views  in  opposition  to  Luther. 
The  latter  writes,  (April  21,)  "I  have  this  day 
suppliantly  entreated  Carlstadt  in  private  not  to 


400  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1524. 

publish  any  thing  against  me,  for,  in  that  case,  I 
should  he  obliged  to  contend  with  him  earnestly. 
He  solemnly  affirmed  that  he  would  write  nothing 
against  me,  though  the  six  sheets  now  in  the 
hands  of  the  rector  and  judges  for  examination 
speak  otherwise.  Certainly  I  will  not  so  disre- 
gard public  scandal  as  to  pass  over  what  he  hath 
written.  They  are  endeavouring  to  persuade  him 
to  retract  or  to  suppress  what  he  hath  written;  I 
shall  not  urge  it."  Mclancthon  writes  to  Spalatin 
a  few  days  afterward,  "  It  hath  been  decided  that 
Carlstadt's  book  shall  be  suppressed." 

It  would  appear  that  the  intimation  made  by 
Luther  against  Carlstadt's  good  faith  was  not  at 
this  time  justified  by  the  result,  for  the  latter 
returned  to  the  ordinary  discharge  of  his  duties, 
much  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  former.  In  Janu- 
ary, 1523,  Luther  speaks  of  Carlstadt's  lectures  in 
most  flattering  terms. 

For  three  centuries,  Carlstadt's  moral  character 
has  been  treated  somewhat  as  Luther's  would  have 
been,  if  only  Catholic  testimony  had  been  heard. 
The  party  interested  has  been  both  witness  and 
judge.  What,  if  we  were  to  judge  of  Zwingle's 
Christian  character  by  Luther's  representations? 
The  truth  is,  Carlstadt  hardly  showed  a  worse 
spirit,  or  employed  more  abusive  terms  toward 
Luther,  than  Luther  did  toward  him.  Carlstadt 
knew  that  in  many  things  the  truth  was  on  his 
side;  and  yet,  in  these,  no  less  than  in  others,  he 
was  crushed  by  the  civil  power,  which  was  on  the 
side  of  Luther.  Luther  was  so  zealous  to  main- 
tain the  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith,  that  he 


M.  40.]  NARRATIVE   OF   EVENTS.  401 

was  prepared  even  to  call  in  question  the  authority 
of  some  portions  of  Scripture,  which  seemed  to  him 
not  to  be  reconcileable  with  it.  To  the  Epistle 
of  James,  especially,  his  expressions  indicate  the 
strongest  repugnance.  Indeed,  so  intemperate  was 
his  language  in  reference  to  this  subject,  that  Ave 
cease  to  wonder  why  Carlstadt  should  complain 
of  "  the  audacity,  the  unreasonable  severity,  the 
violence,  the  false  reasoning,  the  immodesty  and 
shameless  decisions  of  his  friends."  "Still,"  says 
he,  "  I  will  challenge  no  one,  but  if  I  am  chal- 
lenged for  the  defence  of  the  canon  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, though  I  cannot  do  it  as  it  should  be  done, 
I  will  contend  with  all  my  might." 

He  had  so  far  restored  the  sacrament  of  the 
Lord's  supper  as  to  distribute  the  wine  as  well  as 
the  bread  to  the  laity.  Luther,  "in  order  not  to 
offend  weak  consciences,"  insisted  on  distributing 
the  bread  only,  and  prevailed.  He  rejected  the 
practice  of  elevating  and  adoring  the  host,  Lu- 
ther allowed  it,  and  introduced  it  again.  Carl- 
stadt maintained,  that  "we  should  not,  in  things 
pertaining  to  God,  regard  what  the  multitude  say 
or  think,  but  look  simply  to  the  word  of  God. 
Others,"  he  adds,  "  say  that,  on  account  of  the 
weak,  wo  should  not  hasten  to  keep  the  commands 
of  God;  but  wait  till  they  become  wise  and 
strong."  In  regard  to  the  ceremonies  introduced 
into  the  church,  he  judged  as  the  S\vis<  reformers 
did.  that  all  were  to  be  rejected  which  had  not  a 
warrant  in  the  Bible.  "It  is  sufficiently  against 
the  Scriptures  if  you  can  find  no  ground  for  it  in 
them."    Luther  asserted,  on  the  contrary,  "What- 


402  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1524. 

ever  is  not  against  the  Scriptures  is  for  the  Scrip- 
tures, and  the  Scriptures  for  it.  Though  Christ 
hath  not  commanded  adoring  of  the  host,  so  neither 
hath  he  forbidden  it."  "Not  so,"  said  Carlstadt, 
k-  we  are  bound  to  the  Bible,  and  no  one  may 
decide  after  the  thoughts  of  his  own  heart." 

Carlstadt  differed  essentially  from  Luther  in  re- 
gard to  the  use  to  be  made  of  the  Old  Testament. 
With  him,  the  law  of  Moses  was  still  binding. 
Luther,  on  the  contrary,  had  a  strong  aversion  to 
what  he  calls  a  legal  and  Judaizing  religion.  Carl- 
stadt held  to  the  divine  authority  of  the  Sabbath 
from  the  Old  Testament ;  Luther  believed  Chris- 
tians were  free  to  observe  any  day  as  a  Sabbath, 
provided  they  be  uniform  in  observing  it.  But 
Carlstadt  was  also  a  mystic,  following  an  inward 
light.  Hence  his  sympathy  with  the  Zwickau 
Prophets.  He  was  a  singular  compound  of  Zwin- 
glian,  Lutheran  and  Anabaptist  ingredients. 

The  most  important  difference  between  him  and 
Luther,  and  that  which  most  imbittered  the  latter 
against  him,  related  to  the  Lord's  supper.  He 
opposed  not  only  transubstantiation,  but  consub- 
stantiation,  the  real  presence,  and  the  elevation 
and  adoration  of  the  host,  Luther  rejected  the 
first,  asserted  the  second  and  third,  and  allowed 
the  other  two.  In  regard  to  the  real  presence, 
he  says :  "  In  the  sacrament  is  the  real  body 
of  Christ  and  the  real  blood  of  Christ,  so  that 
even  the  unworthy  and  ungodly  partake  of  it; 
;n u I  "partake  of  it  corporally,' too,  and  not  spi- 
ritually as  Carlstadt  will  have  it."     After  Carl- 


JE.  40.]  NARRATIVE   OF   EVENTS.  403 

stadt  had  been  compelled  to  keep  silence,  from 
1522  to  1524,  and  to  submit  to  the  superior 
power  and  authority  of  Luther,  he  could  contain 
himself  no  longer.  lie,  therefore,  left  Witten- 
berg, and  established  a  press  at  Jena,  through 
which  he  could,  in  a  series  of  publications,  give 
vent  to  his  convictions,  so  long  pent  up.  lie  also 
preached  in  several  places  in  that  neighbourhood, 
but  chiefly  at  Orlamunde,  a  little  above  Jena,  on 
the  Saale.  A  furious  controversy  ensued.  Both 
parties  exceeded  the  bounds  of  Christian  propriety 
and  moderation. 

Carlstadt  was  now  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Ana- 
baptist tumults,  excited  by  Muncer.  He  sympa- 
thized with  them  in  some  things,  but  disapproved 
of  their  disorders.  Luther  made  the  most  of  tins. 
The  work  which  he  wrote  against  him,  he  entitled 
"The  Book  against  the  Celestial  Prophets."'  This 
was  uncandid  ;  for  the  controversy  related  chiefly 
to  the  sacrament  of  the  supper.  In  the  south  of 
Germany  and  in  Switzerland,  Carlstadt  found 
more  adherents  than  Luther.  Banished  as  an 
Anabaptist,  he  was  received  as  a  Zwinglian. 

No  doubt  this  circumstance  did  much  toward 
producing  that  intolerant  spirit  which  Luther  ever 
afterward  manifested  toward  Zwingle  and  his  as- 
sociates. It  is  not  for  us  to  decide  the  doctrinal 
question.  It  is  enough  to  say  that  those  men 
were  as  much  entitled  to  the  respect  and  charity 
of  Luther  as  lie  was  to  their's.  We  pas>  over 
this  whole  controversy,  and  the  numerous  collo- 
quies and  debates  growing  out  of  it,  as  inappro- 
priate to  the  design  of  this  work. 


404  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1524. 

Against  the  peasants,  who,  on  the  one  hand, 
were  driven  to  desperation  by  the  oppression  of 
their  rulers,  and,  on  the  other,  were  intoxicated 
with  the  new  ideas  of  liberty  that  had  just  begun  to 
be  proclaimed,  Luther  wrote  and  spoke  in  terms 
of  unmitigated  severity.  He  was  a  better  theo- 
logian than  politician.  He  held  to  the  divine 
right  of  kings,  and,  consequently,  to  the  doctrine 
of  passive  obedience  on  the  part  of  their  subjects. 
He  was  justly  alarmed  lest  the  fair  name  of  the 
Reformation  should  be  stained  by  deeds  of  vio- 
lence and  blood. 

In  Thuringia,  particularly,  and  under  Muncer's 
influence,  the  political  movements  were  linked  in 
with  fanaticism  which  led  to  the  wildest  disor- 
ders ;  though  in  the  south-west  of  Germany  the 
insurgents  acted  more  wisely  and  intelligently. 
That  Luther  should,  in  these  circumstances,  em- 
ploy his  pen,  and  even  travel  from  city  to  city,  to 
allay  the  excitement  and  put  down  the  peasants, 
is  not  strange.  But  that  he  should  proclaim  doc- 
trines subversive  of  all  principles  of  freedom,  and 
be  the  means  of  riveting  more  firmly  the  already 
galling  chains  of  despotism,  and  exciting  the  des- 
pots to  a  bloody  revenge,  is  a  matter  of  regret,  if 
not  of  wonder. 

The  recent  revolutions  of  Germany  are  very 
similar  to  those  attempted  in  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury. The  cause  was  as  sacred  then  as  it  is  now : 
we  do  not  say  that  the  means  were  justifiable. 
Certainly  the  theories  of  government  were  extra- 
vagant and  grotesque.  The  failure  of  the  under- 
taking of  Von  Sickingen   and   Von  Hut  ten,  the 


JE.  38-42.]  NARRATIVE   OF   EVENTS.  405 

tragic  scenes  of  Alstedt,  Frankenhausen  and 
Mtihlhausen,  and  the  counter-revolution  in  Sua- 
bia,  and  the  character  given  to  the  Reformation 
as  hostile  to  all  political  revolutions,  retarded  the 
cause  of  liberty  for  three  centuries. 

Perhaps  it  is  well  that  it  was  so.  Perhaps 
there  was  not,  in  that  age,  a  sufficient  preparation 
for  the  enjoyment  and  preservation  of  freedom ; 
and  so  the  want  of  enlarged,  rational  and  philo- 
sophic views  of  the  nature  and  functions  of  civil 
government,  which  we  observe  in  Luther,  is  the 
less  to  be  regretted.  To  be,  at  the  same  time,  a 
religious  and  a  political  reformer,  is  more  than  can 
reasonably  be  demanded  of  one  individual.  Of 
the  strict  integrity  and  high  moral  principles  of 
Luther,  in  all  his  transactions,  both  with  princes 
and  with  peasants,  during  these  unhappy  times, 
there  can  be  no  question. 


406 


LIFE   OF    LUTHER. 


CHAPTER  V. 


LUTHER  S  CHARACTER  AS  IT  APPEARS  IN  SOME  PARTICULAR 
SPHERES  OF  ACTION  NOT  INCLUDED  IN  THE  GENERAL  NAR- 
RATIVE. 

Section  I. — Luther's  Marriage  and  Domestic  Life. 

0  fully  convinced 
had  Luther  been  for 
a  long  time  that  a 
monastic  life  was  an 
evil,  that  he  pub- 
lished a  tract,  show- 
ing that  nuns  who 
had  taken  the  veil, 
could  with  a  good 
conscience  before 
God  lay  it  aside 
again.  The  monks 
and  it  was  to  be 
expected  that  many  nuns,  who  had,  hy  parental 
influence  or  authority,  taken  the  rash  vow  in  their 
early  youth,  would  feel  the  tedium  of  their  mo- 
notonous life  and  the  fetters  which  robbed  them 
of  their  liberty,  and,  consequently,  eagerly  read 
those  writings  which  aimed  at  restoring  them 
to  their  natural  rights,  and  introducing  them  unto 
those  social  and  domestic  relations  for  which 
nature  designed  them.     A  little  to  the  south  of 


were  beginning   to    disband 


MARRIAGE.  407 

Grimma  and  not  very  far  from  Lcipsic  was  the 
Cistercian  nunnery  of  Nimptschen,  whoso  inmates 
were  of  noble  birth.  Luther  was  at  Grimma, 
with  Staupitz  and  Link,  in  151G;  and  again  he 
spent  some  time  there  in  L519. 

The  next  year  the  Reformation  was  introduced 
into  Grimma.     Thus  the  light  that  was  bei>'innin<j; 

o  DO 

to  shine  must  have  cast  some  of  its  rays  upon  this 
convent,  and  Luther's  name  was  well  known  to  the 
nuns  who  were  there  pining  away  in  their  solitude. 
They,  at  length,  entreated  their  parents  and  friends 
to  take  them  from  the  cloister,  and  restore  them 
to  their  homes.  But  such  were  their  ideas  of  the 
sanctity  of  the  monastic  life,  and  of  the  inviola- 
bility of  the  vow,  when  once  taken,  that  these 
entreaties  of  their  children  were  of  no  avail. 
Nothing  remained  but  to  appeal  to  the  sympathy 
and  humanity  of  the  liberator  of  the  oppressed, 
to  the  straight-forward,  honest-hearted  reformer. 
lie  listened  to  their  petition,  and  formed  the  plan 
of  sending  Koppe,  a  distinguished  and  prudent 
citizen  of  Torgau,  to  deliver  them  from  their 
captivity. 

The  project  was  one  of  great  difficulty.  It 
would  shock  the  superstitious  multitude,  and 
arouse  the  wrath  of  monk  and  priest.  Besides, 
the  journey  from  Torgau  to  Nimptschen — about 
sixty  miles  in  a  southern  direction — led  through 
the  territory  of  Duke  George,  the  bitter  enemy 
of  Luther,  though  both  these  towns  belonged  to 
the  elector.  Koppe  was  assisted  by  his  nephew 
and  a  man  by  the  name  of  Tommitsch.  The  plan 
was  put  in  execution  on  the  evening  of  April  I. 


408  LIFE   OF  LUTHER. 

1523.  Tradition  says,  that,  at  the  time  agreed 
upon,  the  nine  virgins  descended  from,  the  win- 
dow of  Catharine  von  Bora's  cell,  which  was  on 
the  south  side  of  the  nunnery,  into  the  court, 
where  Catharine  herself  left  one  of  her  slippers, 
and  were  lifted  over  the  wall  and  put  into  stand- 
ing barrels  in  a  wagon,  and  thus  escaped  detec- 
tion. It  is  said  in  the  Chronicle  of  Torgau  that 
when  an  individual,  meeting  Koppe,  asked  him 
what  he  had  there,  he  replied,  "Barrels  of  her- 
ring." April  8,  Luther  writes  to  his  friend  Link, 
"Yesterday  I  received  from  their  state  of  cap- 
tivity, nine  nuns  belonging  to  the  Nimptschen 
convent,  among  whom  were  the  two  Zeschaus 
and  [Magdalene]  Staupitz."  This  last  was  a 
niece  of  Luther's  spiritual  father,  and  the  two 
Zeschaus  were  near  relations  of  Luther's  friend 
of  the  same  name,  prior,  and  afterward  also 
reformer,  at  Grimma. 

After  announcing  the  same  fact  in  a  letter  to  Spa- 
latin,  he  says,  "  But  you  will  ask  what  I  am  intend- 
ing to  do  with  them.  First,  I  will  inform  their 
parents,  and  request  them  to  take  them  home.  If 
they  will  not  do  so,  then  I  will  see  that  they  be 
otherwise  provided  for.  I  have  already  received 
promises  in  respect  to  part,  and  I  will  get  the  rest 
married,  if  I  can."  After  mentioning  their  names, 
he  adds,  "These  need  our  compassion,  in  showing 
which,  we  do  service  to  Christ.  Their  escape  is 
quite  wonderful.  I  beg  }rou  to  exercise  your 
charity,  and,  in  my  name,  beg  some  money  of 
your  rich  courtiers  to  sustain  them  one  or  two 
weeks,  until  I  can  either  deliver  them  to  their 


MARRIAGE.  409 

parents,  or  to  others,  who  have  given  me  pro- 
mises." Luther  urged  Spalatin  to  persuade  the 
eleetor  to  contribute  something  for  this  object, 
and  promised  to  keep  it  secret,  that  it  might 
not  give  offence  to  George  and  to  the  Catholic 
clergy. 

This  unheard-of  adventure,  this  breaking  up  of 
conventual  life,  and  the  temporary  settlement  of 
the  fugitive  nuns  in  Wittenberg,  produced  an  ex- 
t  raordinary  excitement.  No  attempt  of  the  priest- 
hood could  succeed  in  concealing  it.  The  example 
was  the  more  dangerous,  as  the  same  discontent 
prevailed  in  other  convents.  Soon  the  abbess  of 
Zeitz  and  four  nuns  followed  the  example ;  and 
six  from  another,  and  eight  from  a  third,  and 
sixteen  from  a  fourth,  many  of  whom  belonged 
to  the  duchy  of  Saxony,  or  the  territory  of  Duke 
George.  The  consequence  was,  that  Luther  was 
bitterly  assailed  as  being  the  author  of  all  the 
mischief,  lie  was  spoken  against  and  written 
against,  (ill  he  found  it  necessary  to  reply,  which 
he  did  to  the  cost  of  the  opposing  party,  lie 
portrayed  the  darker  side  of  life  in  the  nunnery, 
spicing  his  productions  with  striking  narratives 
of  inhumanity  and  cruelty.  He  published  an  ac- 
count of  Florentina  of  Upper  Weimar,  who  passed 
through  many  sufferings  before  she  succeeded  in 
making  her  escape  from  a  monastery  in  Eisleben. 
She  had  been  sent  there  by  her  parents  at  the 
age  oi'six;  was,  without  her  consent,  consecrated, 
or  made  to  take  the  veil,  ;it  the  age  of  eleven. 
Feeling  discontented,  she  made  her  complaints  to 
the  abbess,  who  replied    that  she  must  remain  a 


410  LIFE    OF    LUTHER. 

nun  for  better  or  for  worse.  She  wrote  to  Lu- 
ther; but  the  letter  was  intercepted,  and  she  was 
kept  in  a  cold  prison,  in  an  inclement  season,  for 
four  weeks.  She  next  wrote  to  a  relative ;  this 
letter,  too,  was  seized,  and  she  was  beaten  by  the 
abbess  and  four  others  till  they  gave  over  from 
fatigue.  Luther  made  an  appeal  to  the  Counts 
of  Mansfeld,  in  whose  dominions  these  cruelties 
were  practised,  to  put  a  stop  to  such  flagrant 
abuses. 

Koppe  was  exposed  to  popular  indignation  still 
more  than  Luther,  for  he  had  performed  the  dar- 
ing act  of  rescue,  and  was  very  anxious  that  his 
agency  in  the  matter  should  be  kept  as  secret  as 
possible.  Luther  thought  and  felt  otherwise,  and 
made  the  whole  transaction  known ;  and  then 
wrote  to  Koppe,  bidding  him  lift  up  his  head  and 
not  shrink  from  the  honour  of  so  noble  a  deed. 
"  They,  indeed,  will  say,  that  the  fool  Leonard 
Koppe  hath  suffered  himself  to  be  caught  by  a 
condemned  heretical  monk,  and  then  drove  to 
the  place  and  carried  off  the  nuns  and  aided 
them  in  breaking  their  vows.  .  .  .  But  I  have 
made  all  this  known  for  the  following  reasons;" 
and  then  he  goes  on  to  justify  the  transaction. 

Luther  was  not  at  that  time,  nor  in  the  follow- 
ing year,  (1524,)  when  he  abandoned  the  cloister 
himself,  inclined  to  marry.  In  a  letter  to  Spala- 
tin,  dated  November  30,  he  says:  "For  what 
Argula  writes  respecting  my  getting  married,  I 
give  her  my  thanks.  No  wronder  such  things  are 
tattled  about  me,  as  many  others  are  in  like  man- 
ner.     Thank   her  in  my  name,  and  tell  her  1  am 


MARRIAGE.  411 

in  the  Lord's  hands  as  his  creature,  whose  heart 
he  can  change,  and  whose  life  he  can  save  or 
destroy  at  any  hour  or  moment.  But  with  such 
a  mind  as  ]  have  hitherto  had,  and  still  continue 
to  have,  I  shall  not  take  a  wife;  not  because  I  am 
hy  nature  averse  to  matrimony — for  I  am  neither 
wood  nor  stone, — but  I  am  disinclined  to  it,  be- 
cause I  am  every  day  expecting  death  as  inflicted 
upon  a  heretic.  I  do  not  wish  to  obstruct  God's 
work  in  me,  nor  rely  upon  my  own  heart  for  com- 
fort. It  is  my  hope  that  I  shall  not  be  permitted 
to  live  long." 

But  within  five  months,  we  find  him  writing 
the  following  playful  letter  to  Spalatin :  "As  to 
what  you  write  me  touching  my  marriage,  I  would 
not  have  you  wonder  that  I,  who  am  so  famous  a 
lover,  do  not  marry.  Be  surprised  rather  that, 
since  I  write  so  much  about  marriage,  and  mingle 
so  much  in  female  society,  I  am  not  turned  into  a 
woman,  not  to  say  married.  For  I  have  had  three 
wives  at  once,  whom  I  loved  so  desperately  that  I 
have  lost  two  of  them,  who  are  already  engaged 
to  others.  The  third  1  just  hold  by  the  left  arm, 
and  she,  too,  will  be  snatched  away  from  me  soon. 
But  you,  a  cold  lover,  dare  not  be  the  husband 
even  of  one.  Look  out  that  I,  with  all  my  reluc- 
tance to  marry,  do  not  get  the  start  of  you,  who 
are  already  affianced,  as  God  is  wont  to  do  what 
you  least  expect.  Without  joking,  I  say  this  to 
urge  you  on  in  the  way  you  have  taken."  In 
another  place  he  says:  "Had  I  become  a  lover 
before,  I  should  have  chosen  Eve  von  Schonfeld," 
who  was  one  of  the  nine  nuns  above  mentioned, 


412  LIFE    OF   LUTHER. 

and  who,  at  his  own  suggestion,  was  married 
to  a  medical  student,  afterward  royal  physician. 
What  he  said  jestingly  to  Spalatin  turned  out 
to  be  true,  for  Luther  was  actually  married  first. 

Catharine  von  Bora,  having  no  home  to  which 
she  could  go,  was,  on  her  arrival  at  Wittenberg, 
received  into  the  family  of  a  distinguished  citizen 
by  the  name  of  Reichenbach,  where  she  showed 
herself  worthy  of  the  paternal  interest  that  had 
been  taken  in  her,  both  by  him  and  by  Luther. 
Luther  used  his  influence  to  form  a  matrimonial 
connection  between  her  and  Baumgartner,  a  theo- 
logical student  from  Nuremberg,  who  became  a 
distinguished  man,  and  enjoyed,  in  a  high  de- 
gree, the  confidence  of  Luther  and  Melancthon. 
A  mutual  attachment  seems  to  have  existed  be- 
tween the  two  parties ;  but  when  the  young 
Niiremberger  returned  to  his  native  city,  the  at- 
tachment appears  to  have  faded  from  his  memory. 
Luther,  therefore,  wrote  to  him,  October  12,  152-i  : 
"  If  you  intend  to  have  your  Katy  von  Bora,  you 
must  be  quick  about  it,  or  she  will  be  another's, 
who  is  already  at  hand.  Her  love  to  you  remain- 
eth  unaltered.  I  should  certainly  rejoice  to  see 
you  united  to  her  in  wedlock."  The  acquaint- 
ance, however,  was  not  renewed.  The  other  indi- 
vidual referred  to  was  Glatz,  pastor  at  Orlamiinde. 
For  Luther,  who  had  never  lost  sight  of  providing 
for  the  settlement  in  life  of  the  nine  nuns,  had 
selected  this  individual  for  Catharine,  in  case  he 
did  not  succeed  with  Baumgartner.  But  she  had 
a  mind  of  her  own,  and  would  listen  to  no  such 
proposal,  and,  in  respect  to  Glatz,  her  judgment 


MARRIAGE.  413 

proved  to  be  correct.  She  entreated  Amsdorf  to 
divert  Luther's  mind  from  his  purpose,  adding, 
however,  by  way  of  conciliation,  that  if  Luther 
himself,  or  Amsdorf,  were  to  become  suitor,  she 
would  make  no  objection! 

At  first,  Luther  was  not  particularly  pleased 
with  Catharine,  because  he  "supposed  she  was 
proud  and  haughty."  Learning,  upon  a  more 
perfed  acquaintance,  that  what  had  so  appeared 
was  in  reality  a  certain  womanly  dignity  and  in- 
dependence, he  came  to  entertain  other  feelings 
toward  her.  "And,  thank  God,"  he  says,  "it 
hath  turned  out  well:  for  I  have  a  pious  and 
faithful  wife,  to  whom  one  may  safely  commit  his 
heart."  He  was  married  to  her  without  much 
publicity,  June  13,  1525,  when  he  was  at  the 
age  of  forty-two,  and  she  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
six.  The  ceremony  was  performed  by  Bugen- 
hagen,  in  the  house  of  Reichenbach,  in  the  pre- 
sence of  Professor  A  pel,  Justus  Jonas,  Cranach 
and  his  wife,  without  the  knowledge  of  his  other 
friends.  The  cause  of  concealing  his  marriage 
from  the  elector.  Melancthon  and  others,  till  it 
was  actually  performed,  was  the  alarm  it  would 
give  them.  At  a  time  when  the  public  mind  was 
agitated  by  the  Peasants'  War,  and  when  the  Ca- 
tholic princes  were  greatly  imbittered  against  Lu- 
ther and  even  the  elector,  the  marriage  of  a  monk 
to  ;i  nun  would,  on  account  of  the  two-told  viola- 
tion of  the  monastic  now.  do  utter  violence  to  the 
feelings  of  the  community,  and  Luther  supposed 
they  would  endeavour  to  prevent  so  daring  a 
step.     How  offensive  such  a  marriage  was  to  the 

35* 


414  LIFE   OF   LUTHER. 

superstitious  sentiments  of  even  good  men  at  that 
age,  may  be  seen  from  the  remark  of  Erasmus, 
who,  when  he  heard  of  the  occurrence,  said : 
"  When  a  monk  marrieth  a  nun,  we  may  expect 
antichrist  will  be  born."  The  next  day,  when  it 
became  generally  known  that  the  marriage  union 
had  been  formed,  the  city  government,  according 
to  the  usage  of  that  age,  honoured  Luther  with 
a  present  of  fourteen  cans  of  wine,  of  different 
sorts ;  and  the  newly-married  pair  had  the  right 
of  free  access,  for  the  space  of  one  year,  to  the 
wine  cellar  of  the  cit}r.  A  principal  ceremony, 
at  that  time,  was  the  festival  following  the  wed- 
ding, on  the  occasion  of  conducting  the  bride  to 
her  new  home,  where  a  large  company  were 
treated  to  a  dinner.  The  apartment,  known  as 
Luther's  dwelling,  in  the  Augustinian  cloister, 
was  undoubtedly  the  scene  of  this  solemnity. 
Seven  of  the  invitations  sent  to  different  indi- 
viduals have  been  preserved,  and  give  us  a  view 
of  the  peculiar  and  somewhat  awkward  position 
of  Luther,  as  well  as  a  picture  of  the  times.  The 
first  is  that  written  to  Chancellor  Riihel,  Luther's 
brother-in-law,  and  two  other  Mansfeld  court-offi- 
cers, and  reads  as  follows  :  "  According  to  the 
wish  of  my  dear  father,  I  have  taken  me  a 
wife;  and  on  account  of  evil-speakers,  and  that 
no  hindrance  might  be  placed  in  the  way,  I  have 
hastened  the  act.  It  is  my  wish  that  the  festive 
occasion  of  bringing  my  bride  home  take  place  a 
week  from  next  Tuesday,  and  that  I  may  enjoy 
your  presence  and  receive  your  blessing.  Since 
these  are  times  of  commotion   [the   insurrection 


MARRIAGE.  415 

of  the  peasants]  and  danger,  I  cannot  urge  your 
attendance;  but  if  you  have  a  desire  to  come  and 
can  do  so,  and  bring  with  you  my  dear  father  and 
mother,  yon  can  easily  understand  that  it  would 
give  me  great  joy,  and  whatever  [presents]  you 
may  receive  from  good  friends  for  my  poverty 
will  be  very  welcome."  Another  invitation,  sent 
to  Dolzig,  the  elector's  marshal,  is  written  with 
characteristic  humour.  "No  doubt,"  he  says, 
"  the  strange  rumour  hath  reached  you,  that  I 
have  become  a  husband.  Though  this  is  a  very 
singular  affair,  which  I  myself  can  scarcely  be- 
lieve, nevertheless,  the  witnesses  are  so  nume- 
rous that  I  am  bound  in  honour  to  believe  it ; 
and  I  have  concluded  to  have  a  collation  next 
Tuesday  for  my  father  and  mother  and  other 
good  friends,  to  seal  the  same  and  make  it  sure. 
I  therefore  beg  you,  if  it  is  not  too  much  trouble, 
to  provide  venison  for  me,  and  be  present  your- 
self to  help  affix  the  seal  with  becoming  joy." 
At  this  time  the  city  presented  to  Luther  seve- 
ral casks  of  beer ;  and  the  university  gave  a  large 
silver  tankard,  plated  with  gold  on  the  outside 
and  inside,  weighing  five  pounds  and  a  quarter. 
It  was  purchased  in  the  year  1800,  from  the 
heirs,  by  the  University  of  Greifswald,  for  one 
hundred  rix  dollars. 

Catharine  von  Bora  was  born,  January  29, 1499, 
probably  at  her  father's  estate  now  called  Mil- 
denstein,  not  far  from  Bitterfeld,  between  Witten- 
berg and  Hallo.  We  know  nothing  of  her  parents; 
lint  Luther  often  speaks  of  John  von  Bora,  her 
brother,   who   was   in    the   service    of  Albert   of 


416  LIFE   OF   LUTHER. 

Prussia,  and  afterward  in  that  of  Henry,  Duke 
of  Saxony.  There  was  once  a  nunnery  in  Catha- 
rine's native  place,  and  she  is  said  to  have  entered 
that  at  first.  Her  monastic  life  was  probably 
without  incident.  She  appears  to  have  been  pro- 
minent among  the  nine  fugitive  nuns ;  and  Lu- 
ther's early  treatment  of  her,  even  before  he  was 
] ileased  with  her  manners,  shows  the  considera- 
tion in  which  she  wTas  held. 

Luther  himself  often  speaks  of  his  marriage  as 
a  happy  one.  True,  the  sex  did  not  then  receive 
the  same  delicate  regard  which  is  shown  it  among 
us  at  the  present  time.  Luther,  too,  Avas  a  man 
who  told  all  his  private  thoughts  and  feelings ; 
and  it  would  be  strange  indeed,  if  a  man  of  such 
a  temperament  should  never  see  nor  mention  a 
wife's  little  imperfections.  He  at  one  time  re- 
marks, "  Katy  is  kind,  submissive  in  all  things, 
and  pleasing,  more  so  (thank  God)  than  I  could 
hope,  so  that  I  would  not  exchange  my  poverty 
for  the  riches  of  Croesus."  The  epistle  of  Ga- 
latians  was  a  favourite  epistle  with  him.  "  It 
is  my  epistle,"  he  says,  "to  which  I  am  betrothed; 
it  is  my  Catharine  von  Bora."  Again,  he  says, 
in  1538,  thirteen  years  after  his  marriage,  "  Even 
if  I  were  a  young  man,  I  would  sooner  die  than 
marry  a  second  time,  knowing  what  I  do  of  the 
world,  though  a  queen  should  be  offered  me  after 
my  Katy."  "A  more  obedient  wife,"  he  observes 
again,  "I  could  not  find,  unless  I  were  to  chisel 
one  out  of  marble."  And  again,  "  1  prize  her 
above  the  kingdom  of  France,  or  the  state  of  Ve- 
nice; she  is  a  pious,  good  wife,  given  me  of  God." 


DOMESTIC   LIFE.  417 

Hers,  too,  was  a  happy  life.  Not  only  was  she 
the  wife  of  the  great  man  of  the  age,  but  of  one 
whose  domestic  feelings  were  as  tender  as  his 
public  character  was  masculine  and  strong.  From 
the  personal  dangers  of  Luther,  and  from  his  fre- 
quent illness,  she  had  much  to  suffer.  To  Spala- 
tin,  who  had  invited  him  to  his  wedding,  he  said. 
"  The  tears  of  my  Katy  prevent  me  from  coming; 
she  thinks  it  would  be  very  perilous."  He  had 
just  excited  the  fury  of  some  nobles  by  deliver- 
ing several  nuns  from  their  prison-houses.  In 
February,  152G,  she  went  with  Luther  to  visit 
Carlstadt  at  Segrena,  a  little  west  of  Kemberg, 
where  he  was  then  living  as  a  shop-keeper  and 
farmer.  Here  Carlstadt's  wife  was  born.  Luther, 
who  never  recovered  entirely  from  the  effects  of 
his  early  austerities,  and  who  was  worn  down  with 
excessive  labours,  saw  so  much  trouble  spring  out 
of  his  perpetual  controversy  on  the  real  presence 
of  Christ  in  the  supper,  that  his  cheerfulness  was 
much  abated  and  his  temper  somewhat  soured. 
It  was  then  that  Catharine  proved  of  inestimable 
value  to  him. 

In  his  temporary  illness  of  1526,  and  especially 
in  1527,  when  it  was  expected  he  would  leave 
her  a  widow  with  her  infant  child,  she  showed 
remarkable  fortitude  as  well  as  faith  and  patience. 
"You  know,"  he  said  to  her,  "  that  I  have  nothing 
to  leave  you  but  the  silver  cups."  "My  dear  doc- 
tor," she  replied,  "if  it  is  God's  will,  then  I  choose 
that  you  be  with  him  rather  t  han  with  me.  It  is  not 
so  much  I  and  my  child  that  need  you,  but  many 
pious  Christians.     Trouble  not  yourself  about  me." 


418  LIFE    OF    LUTHER. 

When  Luther  was  depressed,  his  considerate 
wife  often  sent  privately  for  Justus  Jonas,  whose 
cheerful  conversation  was  known  to  be  a  good 
remedy  in  such  cases.  Luther  somewhere  says, 
"  I  expect  more  from  my  Katy  and  from  Melanc- 
thon  than  I  do  from  Christ  my  Lord,  and  yet  I 
well  know  that  neither  they  nor  any  one  on  earth 
hath  suffered,  or  can  suffer,  what  he  hath  suffered 
for  me."  Molsdorf,  a  former  member  of  Luther's 
household,  says,  "  I  remember  that  Dr.  Luther 
used  to  say,  that  he  congratulated  himself  with 
all  his  soul,  that  God  had  given  him  a  modest  and 
prudent  wife,  who  took  such  excellent  care  of  his 
health."  "  How  I  longed  after  my  family,"  says 
Luther,  "when  I  lay  at  the  point  of  death  in 
Smalcald  !  I  thought  I  should  never  again  see 
my  wife  and  child.  How  painful  would  such  a 
separation  have  been  !" 

When  Luther  was  at  Coburg  in  1530,  he  heard 
of  the  illness  of  his  father,  and  yet  his  own  life 
was  in  such  peril  that  he  could  not  safely  make 
the  journey  to  see  him.  At  this,  both  he  and 
Catharine  were  much  distressed.  Soon  after- 
ward, the  news  of  his  father's  death  reached  him. 
"  I  have  heard,"  he  says  to  Link,  "  of  the  death 
of  my  father,  who  was  so  dear  and  precious  to 
me."  Catharine,  to  comfort  him,  sent  him  a 
likeness  of  his  favourite  daughter  Magdalene, 
then  one  year  old.  "You  have  done  a  good 
deed,"  says  Veit  Dietrich,  Luther's  amanuensis, 
"in  sending  the  likeness  to  the  doctor  ;  for  by  it 
many  of  his  gloomy  thoughts  are  dissipated.     He 


DOMESTIC   LIFE.  419 

hath  placed  it  on  the  wall  over-against  the  dining- 
table  in  the  prince's  hall." 

The  foregoing  are  only  a  few  of  the  evidences 
of  conjugal  affection  and  domestic  happiness  in 
the  family  of  Luther,  which  are  to  be  found  in 
his  writings  and  in  those  of  his  contemporaries. 
They  have  been  thought  necessary  in  this  connec- 
tion, on  account  of  the  contrary  representations, 
which  were  made  by  his  enemies,  and  which  have 
been  so  often  repeated  by  Protestant  writers. 
That  no  differences  of  opinion  or  of  feeling  be- 
tween Luther  and  his  wife  ever  manifested  them- 
selves in  an  unhappy  manner,  is  more  than  need 
be  said.  This  is  rarely  the  lot  of  humanity,  espe- 
cially where  there  are  those  mental  qualities  which 
give  force  and  energy  to  character,  as  was  the 
case  with  them.  But  aside  from  these  common 
frailties,  found  in  the  great  and  the  good  no  less 
than  in  others,  there  appears  to  have  been  nothing 
to  interrupt  the  personal  happiness  of  these  indi- 
viduals in  each  other. 

There  are  two  facts,  often  overlooked,  which 
lead  superficial  observers  to  a  false  conclusion. 
The  one  is  the  plain  and  simple  honesty  which,  in 
striking  contrast  with  modern  French  manners, 
characterized  the  age  of  the  Reformation;  and, 
connected  with  this,  the  decided  tone  in  which  the 
husband  was  then  accustomed  to  speak  as  the 
master  of  the  household.  The  obedience  of  the 
wife  was  a  matter  of  direct  and  simple  reality, 
and  was  spoken  of  as  such  without  circumlocution 
or  ambiguity.  In  this,  Luther  should  be  judged, 
not  by  a  modern  standard,  but  by  that  of  his  age. 


420  LIFE   OF  LUTHER. 

On  any  other  principle,  neither  Paul  nor  Moses 
would  be  able  to  pass  the  ordeal  of  modern  criti- 
cism. The  other  particular  alluded  to,  is  the 
playfulness  and  vein  of  drollery  that  run  through 
nearly  all  Luther's  correspondence  with  his  inti- 
mate friends.  Many  of  his  pleasant  sallies  have 
been  taken  in  earnest,  and  thus  made  to  signify 
what  was  never  intended.  It  may  well  be  con- 
ceded that  many  of  those  expressions  were  half  in 
joke  and  half  in  earnest.  But  the  man  who  sets 
them  all  down  as  the  serious  statements  of  a  formal 
witness,  betrays  an  utter  ignorance  of  the  charac- 
ter of  Luther.  Thus,  when,  in  his  humorous  let- 
ters, he  addresses  her  as,  "  my  Lord  Katy,"  (meus 
Dominus  Ketha,  mea  Dominus  Ketha,  meus  Do- 
mina  Ketha,  &c.)  he  furnished  pleasant  amuse- 
ment to  his  university  friends  and  the  students, 
some  of  whom  were  generally  members  of  his 
family.  He  once  gave  out  a  similar  phrase  in 
German  to  a  student  in  his  examination  to  trans- 
late into  Latin,  and  the  answer  contained  such  a 
ridiculous  blunder  that  it  long  continued  a  by- 
word. Luther  closes  one  of  his  letters  to  an  old 
friend  by  saying,  "  My  lord  and  Moses  [the  law- 
giver] Katy  most  humbly  greeteth  you."  He 
also,  in  a  letter  to  his  wife,  addressed  her  as  "  My 
kind  and  dear  lord  and  master  Katy  Lutheress, 
[Lutherinn,]  doctress  and  priestess  at  Witten- 
berg." Stupid,  indeed,  must  he  be  who  construes 
all  these  freaks  of  the  reformer's  pen  into  so 
many  serious  charges  against  his  wife  ! 

If  we  wish  to  see  his  creed  in  respect  to  a 
wife's  place  in  a  household,  we  have  it  undoubt- 


DOMESTIC   LIFE.  421 

edly  in  these  words,  addressed  once  to  his  Katy, 
as  he  was  fond  of  calling  her:  "You  may  per- 
suade to  any  thing  you  wish ;  you  have  perfect 
control ;"  to  which  was  added,  by  way  of  expla- 
nation, "  in  household  ((fairs  I  give  you  the  entire 
control,  my  authority  being  unabated." 

Luther  was  charitable  and  benevolent,  perhaps 
to  a  fault,  and  would  have  been  reduced  to  abso- 
lute suffering  but  for  the  frugality  and  economy 
of  his  wife.  Some  have  turned  this  to  her  re- 
proach. But  what  would  have  been  the  condition 
of  the  family  if  she  too  had  been  above  conside- 
rations of  economy?  Luther  had  reasons  for 
being  as  far  removed  as  possible  from  suspicions 
of  selfishness,  for  the  honour  of  the  Reformation, 
which,  in  the  private  life  of  his  companion,  had 
not  the  same  significance  and  public  importance. 
Of  his  pecuniary  affairs,  Luther  speaks  thus,  on 
different  occasions :  "  I  manage  my  household 
affairs  strangely,  and  consume  more  than  I  receive. 
I  expend  five  hundred  gulden*  in  the  kitchen,  to 
say  nothing  of  clothing,  ornaments  and  alms-giv- 
ing; while  my  annual  income  is  but  two  hundred 
gulden."  "I  am  a  very  poor  manager  of  pecu- 
niary matters.  By  giving  to  my  poor  relations 
and  to  other  persons  who  make  daily  application 
for  aid,  I  am  myself  made  very  poor."  "As  you 
know,  I  am  oppressed  by  being  obliged  to  entertain 
so  much  company.  I  have  run  into  debt  by  my  im- 
providence more  than  a  hundred  gulden  this  year. 
I  have  pawned   three   goblets   in   one   place  for 


*  See  note  to  page  115 
CO 


4*22  LIFE   OF   LUTHER. 

fifty  gulden.  But  the  Lord,  who  thus  pimisheth 
my  imprudence,  will  deliver  me.  Besides,  Lucas 
[Cranach]  and  Christian  [Aurifaber]  will  no  longer 
take  my  name  for  security,  either  because  they 
see  it  is  of  no  use,  or  think  it  will  all  be  sponged 
away  from  me.  So  I  have  given  to  the  former  a 
fourth  goblet  for  twelve  gulden,  which  have  gone 
to  that  fat  Herman.  .  .  .  But  why  is  it  that  I 
alone  am  so  drained  of  my  money,  or  rather  in- 
volved in  debt  ?  I  think  no  one  can  accuse  me  of 
penuriousness  or  avarice,  who  am  so  free  with 
what  is  not  properly  my  own."  "  I  have  with 
my  income  and  presents  built  and  purchased  so 
much,  and  entertained  so  many  in  my  house,  that 
I  must  account  it  as  a  wonderful  and  singular 
blessing  that  I  have  been  able  to  meet  it  all." 

Many  individuals  often  remained  for  several 
weeks,  and  even  months,  in  his  family.  Had  it 
not  been  for  the  many  presents  which  he  received, 
especially  from  the  Elector  John  of  Saxony,  he 
could  never  have  become  the  owner  of  so  many 
little  patches  of  land.  His  property,  at  the  time 
of  his  death,  amounted  to  about  nine  thousand 
gulden. 

His  father  left  him  about  two  hundred  and  fifty 
gulden.  In  1526,  the  elector  gave  him  the 
cloister  building,  in  which  he  lived,  with  the  ad- 
joining garden,  free  of  taxes,  together  with  twelve 
brewings  of  beer  annually.  This  place  was  sold 
to  the  university  by  his  children,  in  1504,  for 
three  thousand  seven  hundred  gulden,  and  made 
into  a  college  building,  to  which  a  new  one  was 
added.     It  was  here  that  those   students  resided 


DOMESTIC   LIFE.  423 

who  received  the  stipends,  one  hundred  and  fifty 
in  number.  Since  1817,  it  has  been  occupied  by 
the  Theological  Seminary.  Luther's  garden  was 
made  a  botanical  garden.  In  1541,  he  purchased, 
for  four  hundred  and  thirty  gulden,  the  small 
Bruno  House  and  lot,  adjoining  the  former  place. 
In  his  will  he  gave  this  to  his  widow  for  her  place 
of  residence.  On  this  spot  the  new  university 
building  a  hove  mentioned  was  erected.  He  had 
before  purchased  a  nursery  near  the  swine  market, 
and  also  a  small  estate  called  Wachsdorf,  near  the 
village  of  Pratau,  which  last  was  estimated  at  one 
thousand  five  hundred  guldens,  and  was  sold  to 
the  younger  Cranach,  the  painter,  to  whose  family 
it  continued  to  belong  for  about  a  century.  Two 
years  before  his  death,  Luther  purchased  a  garden 
adjoining  the  Speck,  or  celebrated  grove  of  oaks, 
nearly  a  mile  to  the  east  of  Wittenberg,  and  one 
of  the  most  common  places  of  resort  for  the  stu- 
dents and  others.  But  the  most  interesting  pur- 
chase was  that  of  the  estate  of  Zollsdorf,  two 
miles  from  Borna,  made  in  1540  by  Luther  for  his 
wife,  at  the  cost  of  six  hundred  and  ten  gulden. 
The  elector  agreed  to  furnish  gratuitously  any 
timber  she  should  need  for  building.  To  Spalatin, 
Luther  writes,  November  10,  1540:  "Katy  now 
asks  for  that,  of  which  she  spoke  with  you  when 
you  were  lately  here.  She  wishes,  that  when  you 
give  the  letter  to  the  elector's  questor,  you  will 
join  her  in  requesting  him  to  give  her  the  oak 
timbers  which  she  needs."  To  another  person  he 
writes:  "Katy  has  just  been  in  her  new  king- 
dom."    Two  years    later,  he  wrote  to  Spalatin  : 


424  LIFE    OF    LUTHER. 

"To-morrow,  my  Katy  purposeth  to  go  to  Zolls- 
dorf, and  will  take  with  her  a  load  of  timber,  and 
attend  to  some  other  matters."  She  frequently 
repaired  to  this  place,  and  generally  passed  her 
time  there  when  Luther  was  from  home.  Luther 
jocosely  called  her,  at  times,  Catharine  Luther 
von  [of]  Bora  and  Zollsdorf.  In  the  last  year  of 
his  life,  he  addressed  a  letter,  when  away  from 
home,  "To  Catharine  Luther,  the  Zollsdorf  doc- 
tor," (alluding  to  his  own  title  as  Dr.  Luther.)  It 
is  to  be  hoped  that  no  one  will  attempt  to  make 
out  that  Luther  reproached  his  wife  for  leaving 
his  house  and  being  a  quack  doctor  in  a  retired 
villnge  by  herself. 

Some  persons  have  represented  Catharine  as 
extravagant,  in  expending  so  much  on  buildings 
at  Zollsdorf.  May  it  not  with  more  propriety  be 
regarded  as  a  proof  of  laudable  enterprise  to  aid 
in  supporting  the  family,  inasmuch  as  the  timber 
was  given  her,  and  her  rents  were  of  course  in- 
creased ?  How  different  from  this  thrift}',  calcu- 
lating woman,  does  Luther  himself  appear  in  the 
following  incident!  A  student,  who  had  finished 
his  course  of  study,  and  was  about  to  leave  Wit- 
tenberg penniless,  came  to  Luther  for  a  little  aid. 
But  Luther's  pocket  was  empty,  and  his  wife, 
who  was  present,  was  as  destitute  of  money. 
Luther  expressed  his  regret  that  he  was  unable 
to  render  him  any  assistance.  But  as  he  observed 
the  sadness  of  the  young  man,  his  eye  fell  on  a 
silver  goblet,  which  he  had  received  as  a  present 
from  the  elector.  He  looked  at  his  wife  inquir- 
ingly, and  she  returned  a  look  which  meant,  "No." 


• 


DOMESTIC   LIFE.  425 

He,  however,  took  the  costly  gift,  and  gave  it  to 
the  student.  The  latter  refused  it,  and  Katv 
seized  the  opportunity  of  interposing  another  sig- 
nificant look.  Luther  said,  "I  have  no  need  of 
silver  cups;  take  it  to  the  goldsmith,  and  get 
what  you  can  for  it,  and  retain  the  money." 

Their  ordinary  style  of  living,  when  without 
company,  was  simple.  The  wife  was  economical, 
and  the  husband,  who  had  been  trained  a  monk, 
could  almost  dispense  with  food,  and  frequently 
ate  nothing  during  the  day  but  bread  and  salt, 
and  was  always  content  with  his  favourite  dish 
of  pea-soup  and  herring. 

Luther  complained  of  being  invited  so  often 
from  home.  He  preferred  to  be  more  in  his  own 
family  circle.  He  loved  to  sit  in  his  own  garden, 
his  wife  with  her  work  at  his  side,  and  his  chil- 
dren enjoying  their  sports.  When  he  journeyed, 
his  wife  accompanied  him,  if  she  could.  She  was 
often  his  companion  in  his  study,  taking  an  inte- 
rest in  his  writings,  and  reminding  him  if  he  forgot 
to  reply  to  the  letters  he  received.  When  he  had 
important  works  in  hand,  he  chose  to  seclude  him- 
self. On  one  occasion,  when  writing  his  commen- 
tary on  the  twenty-second  Psalm,  he  shut  himself 
up,  with  nothing  but  bread  and  salt,  for  three 
days  and  nights,  till  Catharine  was  alarmed  for 
him,  and  caused  a  locksmith  to  open  the  door,  and 
there  they  found  Luther  lost  in  deep  meditation. 

He  had  a  weekly  family  entertainment  in  sing- 
ing and  playing  on  instruments,  to  which  other 
practised  singers  were  invited.  Christmas  was 
always  a  joyful  evening  in  Luther's  house.     And 


36* 


42G  LIFE    OF    LUTHER. 

rarely  did  a  fair  go  by  without  furnishing   some- 
thing for  the  gratification  of  his  children. 

Luther  was  delighted  with  his  first-born,  John 
or  Jonny  (Hanschen)  as  he  loved  to  call  him.  It 
was  to  this  darling  boy,  when  he  was  but  four 
years  old,  that  he  addressed,  from  Coburg,  in 
1530,  the  letter  which  has  so  often  been  referred 
to  as  illustrating  his  extraordinary  power  to  adapt 
himself  to  persons  of  every  variety  of  capacity 
and  condition.  It  is  as  follows :  "  Grace  and 
peace  in  Christ,  my  darling  little  son.  I  am  glad 
to  see  that  you  study  and  pray  diligently.  Go 
on  doing  so,  my  Jonny,  and  when  I  come  home 
I  will  bring  with  me  some  fine  things  for  you. 
I  know  of  a  beautiful,  pleasant  garden,  where 
many  children  go,  and  have  little  golden  coats, 
and  gather  from  the  trees  fine  apples  and  pears, 
and  cherries  and  plums ;  they  sing  and  play,  and 
are  happy ;  they  have  beautiful  little  horses  with 
golden  bits  and  silver  saddles.  I  asked  the  owner 
of  the  garden,  whose  children  these  were.  He 
replied,  '  They  are  children  which  love  to  pray 
and  learn,  and  are  good.'  I  then  said,  '  Dear 
sir,  I,  too,  have  a  son,  whose  name  is  Jonny  Lu- 
ther. May  he  not  also  come  into  the  garden, 
that  he  too  may  eat  these  beautiful  apples  and 
pears,  and  ride  on  these  fine  horses,  and  play 
with  the  boys  ?'  The  man  said,  '  If  he  loves  to 
pray  and  learn,  and  is  good,  he  shall  come  into 
the  garden,  and  Philly  and  Jussy  [Philip  and 
Justus]  too ;  and  when  they  are  all  together, 
they  shall  have  fifes  and  drums  and  lutes,  and 
all  kinds  of  music,  and  dance  and  shoot  with  their 


DOMESTIC   LIFE.  427 

crossbows.'  And  he  showed  me  a  fine  grass  plat 
in  the  garden  for  dancing,  and  there  were  hang- 
ing nothing  but  golden  fifes  and  drums  and  fine 
silver  crossbows.  But  it  was  early,  and  the  chil- 
dren had  not  yet  dined;  and  as  I  could  not  wait 
for  their  dancing,  I  said  to  the  man,  '  0,  my  dear 
sir,  I  will  hasten  away,  and  write  all  about  this 
to  my  dear  little  Jonny,  that  he  may  pray  and 
learn  diligently,  and  be  good,  and  then  come  into 
this  garden.  He  has  an  aunt  Lenc,  [Magdalene,] 
and  she  must  come  too.'  The  man  said,  '  That  is 
right,  go  and  write  to  him  so.'  Therefore,  my 
dear  little  Jonny,  learn  and  pray  well,  and  tell 
Philip,  [Melancthon's  son,]  and  Jussy,  [Justus 
Jonas's  son,]  to  learn  and  pray  too,  and  then  you 
may  all  come  together  into  the  garden.  And  now 
I  commend  you  to  God.  Greet  aunt  Lene  and 
give  her  a  kiss  for  me.  Your  dear  father,  Martin 
Luther." 

This  John  Luther  was  first  instructed  by  his 
father  and  by  private  tutors,  and  was  then  sent 
to  the  Latin  school  at  Torgau,  and  afterward 
studied  law  at  Wittenberg  and  Konigsberg,  mar- 
ried the  daughter  of  Professor  Cruciger,  and 
entered  the  Prussian  service,  and  died  at  Konigs- 
berg at  the  age  of  fifty.  Luther's  second  child, 
a  daughter,  lived  less  than  a  year.  Upon  her 
death,  he  wrote  to  a  friend  :  "  My  little  daughter 
Elizabeth  is  taken  from  me,  and  hath  left  me  with 
a  bleeding  and  almost  womanly  heart,  so  sad  am 
I  on  her  account.  I  never  thought  the  heart  of 
a  father  was  so  tender  toward  his  children.  Pray 
the  Lord  for  me." 


428  LIFE   OF   LUTHER. 

His  favourite  child  was  Magdalene.  She  was 
born  in  1529,  and  died,  very  pious,  at  the  age  of 
thirteen.  The  parting  scene  was  very  touching. 
Luther,  full  of  agony,  fell  on  his  knees  at  her 
bedside,  and  prayed  earnestly  for  her.  "  I  love 
her  dearly,"  he  exclaimed,  "  but  as  it  is  thy  will, 
gracious  God,  to  take  her  hence,  I  will  gladly  give 
her  up  to  be  with  thee."  He  then  rose  and  bent 
over  her,  and  said,  "  Magdalene,  my  dear  daugh- 
ter, you  would  be  glad  to  remain  here  with  your 
father ;  are  you  willing  to  depart  and  go  to  that 
other  Father  ?"  "  Yes,  dear  father,"  she  replied, 
"just  as  God  will."  He  turned  away  to  conceal 
his  tears,  and,  looking  upward,  said,  "  If  the  flesh 
is  so  strong,  how  will  it  be  with  the  spirit !  Well, 
whether  we  live,  or  die,  we  are  the  Lord's."  She 
fell  asleep  in  his  arms.  As  she  was  placed  in 
her  coffin,  he  said,  "You,  dear  Lene,  how  well 
is  it  with  you !"  and  again,  "  Ah,  dear  Lene,  you 
will  rise  again,  and  shine  like  a  star,  yea,  as  the 
sun."  To  his  sympathizing  friends,  he  said : 
"You  should  not  lament;  I  have  dismissed  a 
saint,  yea,  a  living  saint  for  heaven.  Oh,  that  we 
could  so  die !  Such  a  death  I  would  willingly 
accept  this  very  hour." 

His  fourth  child  was  Martin.  Luther  was  ac- 
customed to  moralize  over  the  sports  of  his  chil- 
dren. One  day,  as  Martin  was  playing  with  the 
dog,  the  father  exclaimed,  "  This  boy  preacheth 
God's  word  by  his  deeds  and  acts;  for  God  saith, 
Have  dominion  over  the  fishes  of  the  sea,  and  over 
the  beasts  of  the  field.  See  how  the  dog  putteth 
up  with  every  thing  from  him."    At  another  time. 


AS  A   PREACHER.  429 

joining  his  amusements,  he  said  :  "  Such  was  our 
state   in   Paradise,   simple   and   upright,   without 

guile  or  hypocrisy Therefore,  such  natural 

sports  and  jests  are  the  best  for  children."  "How 
must  Abraham's  heart  have  beaten  when  he  was 
about  to  offer  up  his  son !  He  would  not  men- 
tion it  to  Sarah.  I  might  contend  against  God, 
if  he  should  make  a  similar  demand  upon  me." 
Catharine,  with  a  mother's  feelings,  said,  "I  can- 
not believe  that  God  can  desire  parents  to  destroy 
their  children."  "And  yet,"  replied  Luther,  "he 
could  give  up  his  own  Son  to  die  on  the  cross." 
Martin  studied  theology,  and  was  married,  but 
led  a  private  life  in  Wittenberg  in  consequence 
of  continued  ill  health,  and  died  childless  at  the 
age  of  thirty-three.  Paul  Luther,  the  fifth  child, 
studied  medicine,  and  after  being  a  short  time 
professor  in  Jena,  was  court-physician.  He  mar- 
ried a  lady  of  rank,  and  left  four  children.  He 
was  the  ablest  and  most  distinguished  of  Luther's 
sons.  So  robust  was  he  as  a  boy,  that  Luther 
said  of  him,  "lie  must  fight  against  the  Turks." 
Through  him  most  of  the  branches  of  the  family 
now  living  have  descended.  Margaret,  the  young- 
est of  the  family,  was  married  to  George  von  Kun- 
heim,  and  became  the  mother  of  nine  children. 

Section  II. — Luther  as  a  Preach  r. 

We  should  overlook  one  of  the  most  essential 
traits  in  the  character  of  Luther  as  a  reformer,  if 
we  were  to  omit  the  consideration  of  his  pulpit 
oratory.  In  his  university  lectures,  which  con- 
tain   the   earliest    germ   of  his   reformatory  mea- 


430  LIFE   OP   LUTHER. 

sures,  he  laid  the  foundation  of  his  work,  by  leav- 
ing upon  a  small  but  influential  circle  of  young 
men  the  impress  of  his  own  mind.  By  his  uni- 
versity disputations,  and  by  frequent  conversa- 
tions, he  won  over  his  opponents,  with  a  few 
exceptions,  in  the  theological  faculty.  By  the 
numerous  learned  treatises  which  he  had  occasion 
to  publish  in  defence  of  his  Ninety-five  Theses, 
he  made  known  the  doctrines  of  the  Reformation 
to  the  literary  world,  both  at  home  and  abroad. 
But  his  pulpit  eloquence  was  a  powerful  auxiliary 
to  all  his  other  efforts  in  this  cause ;  and,  more- 
over, it  carried  the  Reformation  beyond  the  walls 
of  the  university  and  the  barriers  of  the  Latin 
tongue,  (of  which  the  people  knew  nothing,)  to  the 
popular  assembly,  to  the  men  of  all  trades  and 
professions.  When  we  consider  that  he  preached 
almost  every  day,  and  several  times  in  a  day  in 
the  towns  and  cities  through  which  he  passed  in 
his  journeys,  and  that  his  unsurpassed  eloquence 
always  called  out  throngs  to  hear  him,  we  shall 
not  be  surprised  that,  in  his  OAvn  times,  so  much 
public  importance  was  attached  to  his  preaching. 

To  most  men  it  was  a  novel  spectacle  to  behold 
the  crowded  assembly,  eagerly  listening  to  warm 
and  earnest  preaching  in  the  native  language. 
Not  that  the  church  had  been  wholly  destitute  of 
able  evangelical  preachers;  for  though  there  was 
then  no  Chrysostom  to  charm  and  enlighten  me- 
tropolitan audiences  ;  no  Basil  or  Gregory  elo- 
quently to  maintain  the  faith ;  no  Augustine  to  be 
the  Edwards  of  his  age;  no  Bernard  to  sway  the 
popular    masses,    and    to    castigate    and   subdue 


AS   A  PREACHER.  431 

princes  and  even  popes ;  there  had  been  such 
men  as  Tauler  and  Suso  among  the  Mystics,  and 
a  few  of  similar  character  among  the  Brethren  of 
the  Life  in  Common,  "who  were  truly  spiritual 
preachers,  and  who  discoursed  to  the  people  in 
the  native  dialect.  But  these  were  rare  instances 
of  popular  and  evangelical  preaching,  and  the 
influence  thus  exerted  was  mostly  of  a  local  cha- 
racter. The  greatest  preacher  at  the  close  of  the 
fifteenth  century  was,  undoubtedly,  Geiler  of  Kai- 
sersberg,  who  produced  extraordinary  effects  at 
Strassburg  and  along  the  Rhine,  by  the  earnest 
and  captivating,  though  rude  eloquence  of  his  ser- 
mons, delivered  to  great  concourses  of  the  people. 
After  his  death,  in  1510,  Luther  was,  for  a  period 
of  about  thirty  years,  not  only  the  most  cele- 
brated, but  actually  the  greatest  pulpit  orator 
then  living. 

The  Catholic  religion  is  a  religion  of  show  and 
ceremonies.  It  aims  not  so  much  to  unfold  the 
intellectual  and  rational  part  of  our  nature,  by 
means  of  doctrinal  truth,  as  to  excite  our  wonder 
at  its  mysteries;  our  veneration  for  the  church, 
the  priesthood  and  the  sacraments ;  our  imagina- 
tion by  its  legends  of  a  saintly  mythology,  and 
our  sensibilities  by  its  gorgeous  ritual.  Preach- 
ing is  but  an  incidental  appendage  to  that  system  ; 
the  mass  and  its  attendant  ceremonies  are  the 
central  point  of  attraction.  Luther  revived  the 
primitive  spirit  of  Christianity,  which  demanded 
that  all  ceremonies  should  be  subordinated  to 
"the  preaching  of  the  word."  This  was  the 
watch-word  of  the  Protestants — the  preaching  of 


432  LIFE   OF   LUTHER. 

the  pure  word  of  God  to  the  people.  The  altar 
of  the  priest  gave  way  to  the  pulpit  of  the 
preacher.  4  Every  thing  conspired  to  make  Luther 
an  illustrious  example  of  what  he  taught  on  this 
subject.  He  was  of  that  physical  organization 
which  fitted  him  to  command  attention.  His 
manly  form,  his  piercing,  fiery  eye,  his  penetrat- 
ing voice,  and  natural  manner  and  action,  were  all 
favourable  to  eloquence. 

Still  deeper  were  the  foundations  for  distin- 
guished pulpit  oratory  laid  in  his  mental  constitu- 
tion. His  intellect  was  powerful  and  acute,  some- 
times pouring  a  flood  of  light  around  a  subject, 
and  sometimes  astonishing  and  delighting  his 
audience  by  the  ease  and  celerity  with  which  he 
would  penetrate  through  the  crust  of  scholastic 
learning  to  the  very  core  of  a  disputed  doctrine, 
and  expose  it  from  an  interior  point  of  view.  His 
logical  talents,  which  were  of  a  high  order,  and 
which  were  admirably  cultivated  by  study  and 
discipline,  were  wonderfully  aided  by  his  strong 
vein  of  plain  and  practical  sense,  bringing  him 
into  immediate  sympathy  with  every  sound  mind, 
whether  cultivated  or  not. 

There  was  also  a  large  poetical  ingredient  in  his 
composition.  He  had  an  eye  for  every  thing  that 
was  beautiful  and  attractive  in  nature.  There  was 
not  a  tone  in  all  nature's  harmony  which  did  not 
find  an  echo  in  his  heart.  Though  his  poetical 
compositions  are  not  of  the  first  order,  his  ser- 
mons and  other  prose  writings  glow  and  sparkle 
with  poetic  fire.  To  speak  more  truly,  it  is  ge- 
nius,  with    its   nameless    attributes,  that   distin- 


AS  A  PREACHER.  433 

guishes  Luther  from  so  many  other  good  preach- 
ers. Besides,  he  was  deeply  sincere  and  truly  in 
earnest  in  all  his  preaching.  He  was  not  a  mere 
professional  man,  aiming  to  elevate  and  adorn  his 
profession.  Preaching  was  with  him,  what  the 
military  art  was  with  Napoleon,  not  an  end,  but 
a  means,  valued  only  by  the  effect  produced. 

Luther  had  also  experienced  the  power  of  the 
truth  which  he  preached,  and  had,  in  early  life, 
suffered  immeasurably  for  want  of  it.  Saved,  as 
he  was,  by  its  efficacy,  he  proclaimed  it  as  the 
only  means  of  salvation  to  others.  The  genuine 
warmth  of  his  own  feelings,  and  the  singular 
capaciousness  of  his  soul  for  every  natural  and 
every  pious  emotion,  gave  him  almost  absolute 
dominion  over  the  emotions  of  others.  The  feel- 
ings of  his  heart,  and  the  fact  that  he  always 
spoke  from  it,  and  stopped  when  his  discourse  had 
reached  the  height  of  its  interest,  must  be  consi- 
dered as  one  of  the  causes  of  his  uniform  success. 

But,  more  than  all,  it  was  the  gospel,  of  which 
his  sermons  were  so  full,  that  gave  a  divine  power 
to  his  preaching.  He  had  studied  the  Bible  and 
digested  its  varied  truths,  as  no  other  man  of  that 
age  had  done,  lie  had  translated  the  whole  Bible, 
and  revised  the  translation  frequently;  he  had  de- 
livered exegetical  or  expository  lectures  in  the 
university;  he  had  written  commentaries;  and 
when  he  came  to  preach,  he  opened  ;i  Bible  every 
verse  of  which  he  had  carefully  studied.  In  his 
own  peculiar  language,  "he  had  shaken  every 
tree  in  this   forest,  and  never  without   gathering 

some   fruit."      If  we  add   to   all  this,   quickness 

37 


434  LIFE    OF   LUTHER. 

of  memory,  self-possession,  vivacity,  wit,  a  rare 
knowledge  of  human  nature,  and  an  unequalled 
power  over  the  language  of  the  people,  charming 
alike  to  the  ruler,  the  scholar  and  the  peasant,  we 
can  account  for  it  that  all  the  men  of  the  age, 
friends  and  foes,  pronounced  him  the  prince  of 
pulpit  orators. 

It  was  the  preaching  of  Luther  that  endeared 
him  to  Frederic  the  Wise,  even  when  he  saw  his 
own  superstitions  unsparingly  exposed.  It  was 
his  preaching  that  made  him  as  absolute  ruler 
over  the  people  at  Wittenberg,  as  Chrysostom 
was  at  Antioch  and  Constantinople,  or  Calvin  at 
Geneva.  It  was  his  preaching  that  so  often 
stilled  the  tumult  in  the  many  towns  and  cities 
he  visited  during  the  first  five  years  after  his 
return  from  Wartburg.  Luther  was  not,  pro- 
perly speaking,  a  pastor.  He  preached  statedly 
for  Bugenhagen,  the  pastor  of  the  city  parish  in 
Wittenberg,  in  1528  and  1529,  while  the  latter 
was  acting  as  a  sort  of  missionary  in  Brunswick 
and  Hamburg;  also  from  1530  to  1532,  three 
times  a  week,  (Wednesdays,  Saturdays  and  Sun- 
days,) while  Bugenhagen  was  acting  the  part  of 
reformer  in  Lubeck ;  and  again  from  1537  to 
1540,  while  the  same  pastor  was  employed  in 
organizing  the  church  in  Denmark.  The  sermons 
preached  at  this  time  were  not  committed  to 
paper  by  himself,  but  were  written  down  by 
note-takers,  after  the  manner  of  reporters  of  the 
present  day.  A  part  of  them  are  now,  for  the 
first  time,  after  a  period  of  three  centuries,  in 
a  course   of  publication.      What  are    called    his 


II 

o  2 

-  5* 


-3    - 


?    I 

r  = 


o 


*5  - 


PROMOTER   OF   EDUCATION.  435 

Domestic  Postils  were  preached  at  home  to  his 
own  household,  when  he  was  so  ill  as  to  be  un- 
able to  go  to  church.  His  Church  Postils  were 
written  for  the  benefit  of  the  churches  and  of  the 
clergy  while  he  was  confined  at  Wartburg,  and 
when  there  were  few  evangelical  preachers  to  be 
found,  and  those  few  were  so  ignorant  of  the 
Bible  as  to  be  unqualified  for  their  work.  All 
the  rest  of  Luther's  preaching  (and  the  amount 
was  very  great)  was  either  occasional,  or  was 
limited  to  the  cloister. 

Section  III. — Luther  as  a  Promoter  of  Education. 

Ix  Germany  the  church  and  the  schools  have 
always  been  connected,  and  the  idea  of  their 
separation  was  not  even  conceived  of  till  the 
late  revolution.  But  schools  are  an  essential 
pari  of  Protestantism.  It  admits  of  no  church 
to  think  and  decide  on  all  matters  of  religion 
for  its  members,  no  priesthood  to  interpose  as 
interpreter  of  the  divine  will  for  the  laity,  no 
pope  nor  council  to  settle  the  controversy.  The 
reformers,  in  giving  the  Bible  to  the  people,  and 
in  relying  on  its  grammatical  and  true  explana- 
tion as  the  only  authority  in  religion,  made  the 
study  of  the  Bible,  and  whatever  other  studies 
are  preparatory  to  it,  indispensable.  Not  only 
the  education  of  the  clergy,  but  a  high  degree  of 
intelligence  among  the  people,  is  involved  in  the 
very  theory  of  Protestantism.  No  man  ever  felt 
this  more  deeply  than  Luther. 

The  education  of  the  young,  next  to  the  preach- 
ing of  the  gospel,  lay  nearest  to  his  heart.     In  a 


436  LIFE    OF    LUTHER. 

letter  to  the  elector  in  the  year  1526,  he  says  : 
"  Since  we  are  all  required,  and  especially  the 
magistrates,  above  all  other  things,  to  educate 
the  youth  who  are  born  and  are  growing  up 
among  us,  and  to  train  them  up  in  the  fear  of 
God  and  in  the  ways  of  virtue,  it  is  needful 
that  we  have  schools  and  preachers  and  pastors. 
If  the  parents  will  not  reform,  they  must  go 
their  way  to  ruin ;  but  if  the  young  are  neglected 
and  left  without  education,  it  is  the  fault  of  the 
state,  and  the  effect  will  be  that  the  country  will 
swarm  with  vile  and  lawless  people,  so  that  our 
safety,  no  less  than  the  command  of  God,  re- 
quireth  us  to  foresee  and  ward  off  the  evil." 
He  maintains  in  that  letter,  that  the  govern- 
ment, "  as  the  natural  guardian  of  all  the  young," 
has  the  right  to  compel  the  people  to  support 
schools.  "  What  is  necessary  to  the  well-being 
of  a  state,  that  should  be  supplied  by  those  who 
enjoy  the  privileges  of  such  state.  Now  nothing- 
is  more  necessary  than  the  training  of  those  who 
are  to  come  after  us  and  bear  rule.  If  the  people 
are  unable  to  pay  the  expense,  and  are  already 
burdened  with  taxes,  then  the  monastic  funds, 
which  were  originally  given  for  such  purposes, 
are  to  be  employed  in  that  way  to  relieve  the 
people."  The  cloisters  were  abandoned  in  many 
cases,  and  the  difficult  question,  What  was  to  be 
done  with  their  funds  ?  Luther  settled  in  this  ju- 
dicious manner.  How  nearly  did  he  approach  to 
the  policy,  now  so  extensively  adopted  in  this 
country,  of  supporting  schools  partly  by  taxation 
and  partly  by  funds  appropriated  for  that  purpose ! 


PROMOTER   OF   EDUCATION.  437 

As  early  as  1520,  three  years  after  the  begin- 
ing  of  the  Reformation,  he  laid  special  stress  on 
the  necessity  of  reforming  and  improving  the 
schools,  in  his  eloquent  address  to  the  Christian 
nobility  of  the  German  nation.  In  1-524,  he 
wrote  a  remarkable  production  entitled  "An  Ad- 
dress to  the  Common  Councils  of  all  the  Cities 
of  Germany  in  behalf  of  Christian  Schools,"  from 
which  a  few  passages  may  here  be  extracted. 
After  some  introductory  remarks,  he  comes  di- 
rectly to  his  point,  and  says  to  his  countrymen 
collectively : 

"I  entreat  you,  in  God's  behalf  and  that  of 
the  poor  youth,  not  to  think  so  lightly  of  this 
matter  as  many  do.  It  is  a  grave  and  serious 
thing,  affecting  the  interest  of  the  kingdom  of 
Christ  and  of  all  the  world,  that  we  apply  our- 
selves to  the  work  of  aiding  and  instructing  the 
young.  ...  If  so  much  be  expended  every 
year  in  weapons  of  war,  roads,  dams,  and  count- 
less other  things  of  the  sort,  for  the  safety  and 
prosperity  of  a  city,  why  should  we  not  expend 
as  much  for  the  benefit  of  the  poor,  ignorant 
youth,  to  provide  them  with  skilful  teachers? 
God  hath  verily  visited  us  Germans  in  mercy  and 
given  us  a  truly  golden  year.  For  we  now  have 
accomplished  and  learned  young  men,  adorned 
with  a  knowledge  of  literature  and  art,  who 
could  be  of  great  service,  if  emplo}rcd  to  tea  eh 
the  young.  .  .  .  Surely  it  is  not  meet  to  neg- 
lect this  divine  favour,  and  let  God  knock  in 
vain  at  our  door,  lie  now  standeth  at  the  door, 
and   happy   shall   we   be   if  we   open   unto   him. 

37* 


438  LIFE    OF    LUTHER. 

He  now  greeteth  us,  and  happy  is  he  who  re- 
turneth  the  salutation.  Let  us  recall  to  mind 
our  former  wretchedness  and  the  darkness  in 
which  we  were  enveloped.  ...  If  we  let  this 
season  pass,  manifesting  neither  gratitude  nor 
interest,  there  is  reason  to  fear  that  still  greater 
darkness  and  misery  will  come  upon  us.  Be- 
loved countrymen,  buy  while  the  fair  is  held  at 
your  door;  gather  the  harvest  while  the  sun 
shineth,  and  the  weather  is  fair.  Avail  your- 
selves of  the  grace  and  word  of  God  while  they 
are  at  hand.  Know  that  they  are  a  passing 
shower,  which  doth  not  return  where  it  hath 
once  been.  .  .  .  Therefore  seize  at  it,  and  lay 
hold  of  it  whosoever  can.  Idle  hands  will  reap 
a  slender  harvest.  .  .  . 

"Why  else  do  we  older  persons  live,  but  to 
take  care  of  the  young,  to  teach  and  train  them? 
It  is  not  possible  that  giddy  childhood  shall  pro- 
vide for  its  own  instruction.  Therefore  God  hath 
committed  them  to  us  who  are  old  and  have  expe- 
rience, and  he  will  call  us  to  a  strict  account. 

"It  is,  however,  a  sin  and  shame  that  it  has 
come  to  this,  that  we  must  stir  up  one  another  to 
educate  our  children  and  the  young.  Nature  im- 
pelleth  us  to  do  it,  as  the  example  of  the  heathen 
abundantly  showeth.  Even  the  irrational  brute 
traineth  its  young  to  what  is  needful.  .  .  . 

"  What  though  we  had  and  did  all  else,  and 
were  ourselves  saints,  if,  in  the  mean  time,  we 
should  neglect  that  for  which  we  chiefly  live, — the 
care  of  the  young  ?  Of  all  outward  sins,  I  think 
none  greater  before  God,  or  more  punishable  than 


PROMOTER   OF   EDUCATION.  439 

even  this  which  wo  commit  in  respect  to  children, 
in  that  we  neglect  their  education.  Alas  !  that 
children  are  born  and  left  to  grow  up  as  they  will, 
with  no  one  to  feel  anxiety  for  them,  or  train 
them  up!  But,  you  say,  all  this  concerneth 
parents.  What  have  magistrates  and  rulers  to  do 
about  it?  True,  but  what  if  parents  neglect  it? 
Who  shall  attend  to  it  then  ?  Must  they  go  un- 
cared  for,  and  untaught?  .  .  .  The  causes  for  the 
neglect  of  children  by  their  parents  are  numerous. 

"1.  There  are  those  who  are  so  wicked  and 
brutish  that  they  would  not  educate  their  children 
if  they  could.  They  leave  them  as  the  ostrich 
doth  her  young.  And  yet  they  grow  up  among 
us  and  live  in  the  same  place  with  us.  llow  can 
reason  and  Christian  charity  allow  them  to  grow 
up  uneducated,  to  become  a  poison  and  pestilence, 
corrupting  a  whole  town  ?  .  .  . 

"2.  The  greater  part  of  parents  are,  alas!  un- 
qualified, and  know  not  how  their  children  ought 
to  be  educated.  They  themselves  have  learned 
nothing  but  how  to  gratify  their  appetites.  There- 
fore there  must  be  those  who  make  it  a  business 
to  instruct  and  train  children  well. 

"3.  Even  if  the  parents  were  qualified,  and 
were  also  inclined  to  teach,  the}r  have  so  much 
else  to  do  in  their  business  and  household  a  Hairs 
thai  they  cannot  find  the  time  to  educate  their 
children.  Thus  there  is  a  necessity  that  public 
teachers  be  provided.  Otherwise  each  one  would 
have  to  leach  his  own  children,  which  would  be 
for  the  common  people  too  great  a  burden.  Many 
a  line  boy  would  be  neglected  on  account  of  po- 


440  LIFE    OF    LUTHER. 

verty;  and  many  an  orphan  would  suffer  from  the 
negligence  of  guardians.  And  those  who  have  no 
children  would  not  trouble  themselves  at  all  about 
the  whole  matter.  Therefore  it  becometh  rulers 
and  magistrates  to  use  the  greatest  care  and  dili- 
gence in  respect  to  the  education  of  the  young." 

In  what  estimation  he  held  the  teacher's  office 
we  learn  from  his  own  lips.  "  The  diligent  and 
pious  teacher/'  he  observes,  "who  properly  in- 
structeth  and  traineth  the  j^oung,  can  never  be 
fully  rewarded  with  money.  If  I  were  to  leave 
my  office  as  preacher,  I  would  next  choose  that  of 
school-master,  or  teacher  of  boys ;  for  I  know  that, 
next  to  preaching,  this  is  the  greatest,  best  and 
most  useful  vocation ;  and  I  am  not  quite  sure 
which  of  the  two  is  the  better ;  for  it  is  hard  to 
reform  old  sinners,  with  whom  the  preacher  has 
to  do,  while  the  young  tree  can  be  made  to  bend 
without  breaking." 

In  pleading  so  earnestly  for  public  "  Christian 
schools,"  Luther  by  no  means  overlooked  the 
importance  of  domestic  education,  but  rather  in- 
sisted on  it  no  less  strenuously.  He  taught  that 
the  beginning  in  education  must  be  made  at  home, 
and  that  domestic  influences  must  constantly  be 
employed  in  support  of  the  discipline  of  the 
schools.  Indeed,  with  Luther,  education  con- 
sisted not  merely  in  the  acquisition  of  know- 
ledge, but  in  the  formation  of  character.  The 
former  stood  in  the  relation  of  means  to  the  lat- 
ter. His  views  of  some  of  these  points  may 
easily  be  gathered  from  the  following  truthful  ob- 
servations.    "  Where  filial  obedience  is  wanting," 


PROMOTER   OF   EDUCATION.  441 

he  somewhere  remarks,  "there  no  good  morals, 
no  good  government  can  be  found ;  for,  if  in  fami- 
lies obedience  be  not  maintained,  it  is  in  vain  to 
look  for  good  government  in  a  city,  or  province, 
or  kingdom,  or  empire.  For  the  family  is  the 
primary  government,  whence  all  other  govern- 
ment and  dominion  on  earth  take  their  origin. 
If  the  root  be  not  sound,  then  neither  the  tree 
nor  the  fruit  will  be  good."  "  See  to  it,"  he  says 
in  another  place,  "  that  your  children  are  in- 
structed in  spiritual  things,  that  you  surrender 
them  first  to  God,  and  then  to  worldly  occupations. 
But,  alas  !  this  order  is  commonly  reversed.  .  .  . 
The  whole  power  of  the  Christian  church  lieth  in 
the  young,  and,  if  they  are  neglected,  it  will  be- 
come like  a  garden  that  is  neglected  in  the  spring- 
season."  Again,  he  says,  "Are  we  not  unwise? 
We  can  merit  heaven  or  hell  in  our  children,  and 
yet  we  regard  it  not.  Of  what  use  will  your  acts 
of  piety  be  to  you,  if  you  neglect  the  training  of 
your  children?  .  .  .  Believe  me,  it  is  much  more 
important  that  you  bestow  care  and  attention 
upon  the  education  of  your  children,  than  that 
you  buy  indulgences,  repeat  prayers,  perforin  pil- 
grimages, or  make  many  vows.  .  .  .  Those  who 
knowingly  neglect  their  children,  and  let  them 
grow  up  without  the  nurture  and  fear  of  the  Lord, 
are  the  destroyers  of  their  children." 

In  1530,  Luther  published  a  discourse,  the  ob- 
ject of  which  was  to  enforce  the  obligation  of 
parents  to  send  their  children  to  school.  In  this, 
he  says,  "  God  hath  given  you  children  and  the 
means  of  their  support,  not  merely  that  3'ou  may 


442  LIFE   OF   LUTHER. 

find  your  pleasure  in  them,  or  bring  them  up  for 
worldly  splendour,  but  he  hath  strictly  commanded 
}rou  to  train  them  up  for  his  service." 

In  1527,  a  visitation  was  made  of  the  churches 
and  schools  of  the  electorate  of  Saxony,  in  which 
more  than  thirty  men  were  employed  a  whole 
year.  The  result  in  respect  to  education  was, 
that  "the  Saxon  school  system,"  as  it  was  called, 
was  drawn  up  by  the  joint  labours  of  Luther  and 
Melancthon ;  and  thus  the  foundation  was  laid  for 
the  magnificent  organization  of  schools  to  which 
Germany  owes  so  much  of  her  present  fame. 
The  reformers  were  the  fathers  of  the  German 
system  of  education,  improved  indeed,  but  never 
radically  changed  by  their  successors  for  a  period 
of  three  centuries.  The  traveller,  that  visits 
Eisleben,  sees  in  a  flourishing  condition  the  very 
gymnasium  which  was  established  by  Luther  as 
the  last  act  of  his  life.  The  school  of  Pforta, 
near  Naumburg,  where  a  greater  number  of  accom- 
plished classical  scholars  have  been  educated  than 
in  any  other  gymnasium  or  grammar  school  in  the 
world,  had  a  similar  origin.  It  was  in  consequence 
of  Luther's  counsels  that  the  old  monastery  of 
that  name,  was,  with  all  its  funds,  converted  into 
a  learned  school. 

In  the  Saxon  schools,  founded  upon  the  plan 
of  Luther  and  Melancthon,  the  languages  took 
the  precedence  of  all  other  studies.  The  forenoon 
session  was  two  hours  every  day;  the  afternoon 
three,  except  Wednesdays  and  Saturdays,  when 
only  the  musical  exercise  of  one  hour  was  held,  as 
it  was  every  other  afternoon.     The  catechism  was 


PROMOTER  OF   EDUCATION.  1  !:; 

taught  every  Saturday  forenoon.  Thus,  of  the 
twenty-six  school-hours  in  the  week,  eighteen 
were  devoted  to  the  languages,  six  to  music,  and 
two  to  the  subject  of  religion.  There  was,  how- 
ever, further  provision  made  for  the  religious  edu- 
cation of  the  pupils.  They  went  to  the  village 
cliuich  or  to  the  public  chapel  every  morning,  at 
about  five  or  six  o'clock,  sung  hymns  in  Latin  and 
German,  and  read  the  Scriptures  and  the  cate- 
chism aloud,  in  Latin  and  then  in  German,  and 
repeated  prayers.  They  had  a  similar  evening 
service.  Besides,  the  schools  were  kept  seven 
days  in  the  week;  or,  in  other  words,  there  were 
regular  Sunday-schools  then  as  now,  only  the 
teachers  were  the  same  as  on  other  days  of  the 
week.  The  pupils  were,  earl}''  on  Lord's  day 
mornings,  conducted  to  the  church  for  the  matins, 
as  all  such  morning  services  were  called.  Next, 
they  had  a  lesson  from  the  Bible,  or  the  catechism, 
in  the  school-room.  At  eleven  or  twelve  o'clock, 
they  attended  on  the  principal  public  service  of 
the  day.  Sometimes,  the  younger  classes  re- 
mained  at  the  school-room,  where  they  received 
religious  instruction  better  adapted  to  their  capa- 
cities than  that-  given  in  the  pulpit.  The  older 
pupils  were  carefully  examined  upon  (lie  sermons 
which  they  had  heard.  The  order  was  varied  in 
different  schools,  as  well  as  the  exercises  them- 
selves; but  the  above  general  statement  is  suffi- 
ciently accurate  to  illustrate  the  way  in  which  the 
day  was  passed  in  the  schools.  From  all  this,  it 
will  appear  thai  the  nineteenth  century  has  made 
less  advance  than  is  commonly  supposed  upon  the 


444  LIFE   OF    LUTHER. 

sixteenth,  in  respect  to  the  religious  education  of 
the  young.  In  respect  to  books  and  organizations, 
there  is  a  great  difference ;  in  respect  to  the  thing 
itself,  the  object  sought,  the  comparison  would  not 
be  discreditable  to  the  reformer.  A  volume  might 
be  made  up  of  Luther's  views  of  education,  be- 
ginning with  domestic  training,  and  ascending 
through  the  lower  schools  to  the  university;  but 
enough  has  been  said  to  indicate  his  comprehen- 
sive views  in  respect  to  schools. 

Section  IV. — Luther  as  a  Lover  of  Music. 

Allusion  has  frequently  been  made,  in  the  fore- 
going account,  to  Luther's  musical  tastes  and  ta- 
lents. He  was  early  known  as  a  melodious  singer; 
and  it  was  in  this  capacity  that  he  had  won  the 
kind  regards  of  Madam  Cotta,  his  first  patroness. 
His  last  evening  before  entering  the  cloister  was 
devoted  to  musical  and  social  pleasures.  It  was 
to  be  expected,  therefore,  that,  when  the  work 
of  the  Reformation  was  moving  successfully  on, 
sacred  music  should  be  called  in  to  its  aid :  so  it 
was  in  point  of  fact.  Luther  early  employed  his 
poetical  talents  in  conrposing  original  hymns,  and 
in  translating  and  adapting  to  his  use  the  better 
Latin  hymns.  A  version  of  the  Psalms,  gene- 
rally, was  never  made  for  public  worship  in  Ger- 
man}'. Of  hj^mn-books  the  Lutheran  church  has 
a  plentiful  supply ;  of  psalm-books  none,  though  a 
few  psalms  were  versified  by  Luther  and  appended 
to  his  collection  of  hymns.  In  1524,  the  first 
h}rmn-book  of  Luther,  accompanied  by  the  music 
set  to  the  words,  in  which  Walther  lent  his  assist- 


LOVER   OF   MUSIC.  445 

ance,  was  published.  Within  twenty  years  from 
thai  time,  one  hundred  and  seventeen  collections 
of  hymns,  by  Luther  and  his  friends,  were  printed. 
"These  hymns,"  he  says,  in  the  preface,  "are  set 
to  music  in  four  parts,  for  no  other  reason  than 
because  of  my  desire  that  the  young,  who  oughl 
to  be  educated  in  music  as  well  as  in  other  good 
arts,  might  have  something  to  take  the  place  of 
worldly  and  amorous  songs,  and  so  learn  some- 
thing useful,  and  practise  something  virtuous,  as 
bccometh  the  young.  ...  I  would  be  glad  to  see 
all  arts,  and  especially  music,  employed  in  the 
service  of  Him  who  created  and  made  them." 

This  book,  which  is  so  great  a  curiosity  that 
it  was  reprinted  in  1840,  was  used  in  families  and 
social  circles  and  schools,  as  well  as  in  churches. 
In  the  history  of  the  city  of  Hanover,  we  read 
that  the  Reformation  was  first  introduced  there, 
not  by  preachers,  nor  by  religious  tracts,  but  by 
the  hymns  of  Luther,  which  the  people  sung  with 
delight.  In  his  second  edition,  in  1533,  he  com- 
plains that  his  hymns  had  been  altered,  and  others 
published  under  his  name.  In  this  new  collec- 
tion, therefore,  he  added  two  to  his  own  hymns 
(which,  at  first,  were  twenty-nine  in  number)  and 
several  old  hymns  from  the  Middle  Ages,  and, 
finally,  fifteen  new  ones  by  his  friends  and  con- 
temporaries, remarking,  at  the  same  time,  in  re- 
spect to  the  last,  that,  of  the  many  which  were 
in  circulation,  only  a  few  deserved  a  place  in  the 
collection. 

Luther  himself  composed  music  for  several  of 
his  hymns,  which  was  not  only  good  in  itself,  but 

B8 


44G  LIFE   OF   LUTHER. 

agreed  beautifully  with  the  sentiment  expressed 
by  the  words.*  The  same  Walther,  mentioned 
above,  says  :  "  I  have  spent  many  a  happy  hour 
in  singing  with  him,  and  have  often  seen  the  dear 
man  so  happy  and  joyful  in  spirit,  while  singing, 
that  he  could  neither  tire,  nor  be  satisfied.  He 
conversed  splendidly  upon  music.  Forty  years 
ago,  when  he  was  arranging  the  mass  [commu- 
nion] service  in  German,  at  Wittenberg,  he  sent 
for  the  elector's  old  chorister,  Rupf,  and  myself, 
to  confer  with  us  about  the  music  for  the  Epistles 
and  Gospels.  .  .  .  He  himself  composed  tunes  for 
the  epistles  and  gospels,  and  the  words  of  Christ 
at  the  institution  of  the  supper,  and  sung  them  to 
me,  and  asked  my  opinion  of  them.  He  kept  me 
three  weeks  at  Wittenberg,  writing  the  notes  for 
a  few  gospels  and  epistles,  till  the  first  German 
mass  was  sung  in  the  parish  church.  I  was 
obliged  to  stay  and  hear  it,  and  to  take  a  copy  of 
it  with  me  to  Torgau,  for  the  elector,  at  the  doc- 
tor's command."  We  select  the  following  from  a 
large  mass  of  Luther's  sayings  in  regard  to  music : 
"  It  is  a  beautiful  and  lovely  gift  of  God ;  it  hath 
often  so  excited  and  moved  me,  as  to  give  me  a 
desire  to  preach.  I  have  always  been  fond  of 
music.  He  who  understandeth  this  art  is  the 
light  sort  of  man,  and  is  fit  for  any  thing  else. 
It  is  needful  that  music  be  taught  in  schools.  A 
schoolmaster  must  be  able  to  sing,  or  I  do  not 
think  much  of  him.  Music  cometh  near  to  theo- 
logy ;  I  would  not  exchange  my  little  knowledge 

*  There  appears  to  be  no  evidence  that  "  01*1  Hundred"  was  com- 
posed by  Luther,  though  it  has  often  been  ascribed  to  him. 


LOVER   OF   MUSIC.  447 

of  it  for  much  money.  The  young  should  he  con- 
stant lv  exercised  in  this  art,  for  it  refines  and  im- 
proves men.  Singing  is  the  best  of  arts  and  exer- 
cises ;  it  is  not  of  a  worldly  character,  and  is  an 
antidote  for  all  contentions  and  quarrels.  Singers 
are  not  gloomy,  but  joyful,  and  sing  their  cares 
away.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that,  in  minds 
which  are  affected  by  music,  are  the  seeds  of 
much  that  is  good;  and  those  who  are  not  affected 
by  it,  I  regard  as  stocks  and  stones.  .  .  .  Music 
effecteth  what  theology  alone  can  effect  besides — 
it  giveth  peace  and  a  joyful  mind.  .  .  .  Therefore 
the  prophets  have  employed  no.  art  as  they  have 
music  ;  inasmuch  as  they  have  put  their  theology, 
not  into  geometry,  or  arithmetic,  or  astronomy,  but 
into  music.  Hence  it  cometh,  that,  by  teaching 
the  truth  in  psalms  and  hymns,  they  have  joined 
theology  and  music  in  close  union." 


448 


LIFE   OF   LUTHER. 


[1525. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE  PRINCIPAL  EVENTS  OF  LUTHER'S  LIFE,  FROM   HIS   MAR- 
RIAGE in  1525  to  his  death  in  1546.    Z-*^*  I  *</  9  O     F 

Section  I. — From  Luther's  Marriage  to  the  Completion  of 
the  Augsburg  Confession  in  1530. 

OTH  the  friends 
and  the  enemies  'of 
Luther  had  been 
astonished  by  his 
selecting  such  a 
time  as  the  very 
midst  of  the  turmoil 
of  the  Peasants' 
War,  to  celebrate 
his  marriage  with 
a  fair  nun.  His 
friends  censured  his 
imprudence,  his  foes  interpreted  the  act  to  his 
ignominy.  The  papal  writers  represented  the 
great  beauty  of  Catharine  von  Bora  as  proving  a 
snare  to  Luther,  while  the  Protestant  writers,  in 
defence  of  the  reformer,  detracted  quite  as  much 
from  her  beauty  as  is  consistent  with  the  like- 
nesses taken  of  her  by  Cranach. 

The  death  of  Frederic,  Elector  of  Saxony,  had 
emboldened  the  Catholic  princes,  who  hoped  that 
the  fall  of  this  pillar  of  Protestantism  would  greatly 
weaken  the  cause  of  Luther.     The  latter,  not  yet 


M.  41.]  DEATH  OF  FREDERIC.  449 

knowing  the  firmness  of  the  new  elector,  who 
proved  himself  so  heroic  at  the  presentation  of 
the  Augsburg  Confession  to'  the  diet  in  1530, 
thought  it  prudent  to  attempt  a  reconciliation 
with  Henry,  King  of  England,  and  George,  Duke 
of  Saxony,  the  bitterest  of  his  enemies  on  the 
throne,  and  therefore  wrote  them  respectively  very 
humble  letters,  which,  however,  instead  of  answer- 
ing their  purpose,  were  received  with  scorn. 

The  year  1527  was  one  of  sadness  to  Luther. 
His  friends  were  persecuted,  and  some  of  them 
put  to  death,  and  he  himself  fell  into  a  state  of 
melancholy  and  despondency,  of  which  Bugenha- 
gen  and  Justus  Jonas  have  left  us  a  memorable 
detailed  account,     How  far  all  this  was  the  effect 
of  bodily  disease  and  other  natural  causes,  or  how 
far  it  was  a  visitation  from  the  evil  spirit,  as  Lu- 
ther himself  believed,  it  is  not  our  province  to 
determine.     About  the  same  time  an  epidemic, 
or  the  plague,  as  it  was  termed,  raged  so  at  Wit- 
tenberg that  the  university  was  temporarily  re- 
moved to  Jena.     Near  the  middle  of  the  year 
1527,  the  great  work  of  visitation  was  begun  by 
Melancthon  and  others,  and  ended  in  1529.     The 
surprising  ignorance  which  Luther  found,  as  well 
among  the  priests  as  the  people,  induced  him  in 
the  following  year  to  write  those  monuments  of 
his  genius  as  a  popular  and  catechetical  writer, 
the  Larger  and   the    Smaller   Catechism.     What 
he   did   for   schools   need  not  here  be  repeated. 
Meanwhile,  the  controversy  on  the  real  presence 
of  Christ  in   the  encharist,  between    Luther  and 
Zwingle  and  their  respective  adherents,  had  grown 


;ss" 


450  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1525 

so  warm  and  threatened  such  serious  consequences, 
that  Philip,  Landgrave  of  Hesse,  a  man  of  enlarged 
views  and  enlightened  policy,  more  so  perhaps 
than  any  other  of  the  Protestant  rulers,  proposed 
to  have  both  parties  meet  for  friendly  conference, 
and  such  a  meeting  finally  took  place  in  the  Mar- 
burg Colloquy,  October  1,  1529,  but  to  no  very 
good  purpose. 

The  diet  of  Spire,  which  was  held  in  the  same 
year,  had  come  to  a  decision  unfavourable  to  the 
interests  of  the  evangelical  party,  which  called 
forth  the  Protest  that  has  since  given  name  to 
the  opposers  of  papal  error  and  corruption.  As 
there  were  now  ominous  indications  of  a  com- 
bined hostility  of  the  Papal  rulers  against  the 
Protestants,  it  was  proposed  by  the  latter  to 
enter  into  a  league  for  mutual  defence.  Luther 
opposed  the  measure,  saying,  "  He  would  rather 
die  ten  times  than  have  the  consciousness  that 
the  gospel  preached  by  him  was  the  occasion  of 
bloodshed ;"  a  fresh  proof  that  Luther  trusted  not 
in  the  power  of  the  sword,  but  in  the  power  of 
truth ;  yet  what  (to  human  view)  would  have  be- 
come of  the  Protestant  states  of  Germany,  if  they 
had  followed  his  views  in  respect  to  defensive  war  ? 

Early  in  the  spring  of  1530,  the  elector  wrote 
to  Luther  and  other  Wittenberg  theologians,  in- 
forming them  that  the  emperor  had  called  a  diet 
to  be  held  at  Augsburg,  April  8,  at  which  his  ma- 
jesty was  to  be  present  in  person.  Inasmuch  as 
it  was  intended  to  make  this  diet  answer  the  pur- 
pose of  a  council  in  settling  the  difficulties  between 
the  religious  parties,  the  elector  said :  "  It  is  ne- 


M.  41.]  DIET   OF   AUGSBURG.  451 

cessary  that  we  have  a  clear  understanding  among 
ourselves,  touching  the  articles  to  be  maintained 
as  well  of  rites  and  ceremonies  as  of  faith,  so  that 
both  we  and  other  members  of  the  diet  who  have 
embraced  the  pure  evangelical  doctrines,  may  know 
how  far  we  can,  with  propriety  and  a  good  con- 
science, be  a  party  in  the  transactions."  He  di- 
rected, therefore,  that  they  draw  up  such  articles 
as  should  seem  to  them  best,  and  appear  with  them 
before  him,  at  Torgau,  on  the  20th  of  March.  He 
also  instructed  Luther,  Jonas  and  Melancthon  to 
make  arrangements  to  be  absent  from  the  univer- 
sity, and  to  accompany  him,  together  with  Spa- 
latin  and  Agrieola,  as  far  as  Coburg,  on  the  way 
to  Augsburg.  They  entered  upon  this  journey, 
April  3,  and  Luther  preached  on  the  way  at  Wei- 
m:i  r.  Saalfeld,  Grafenthal,  Neustadt,  and  frequently 
at  Coburg.  On  the  21st,  the  elector  and  the  rest 
of  the  company  proceeded  to  Augsburg,  while  Lu- 
ther, for  reasons  unknown  to  him,  was  left  behind 
to  remain  at  Coburg.  The  elector  thought  it  more 
prudent  to  employ  the  mild  and  peaceful  Melanc- 
thon in  negotiating  with  the  Papists,  having  Lu- 
ther, at  the  same  time,  within  reach,  to  be  consulted 
whenever  it  should  appear  necessary.  Luther  was 
accordingly  conducted  to  the  electoral  palace,  situ- 
ated on  a  bold  eminence,  for  a  residence  of  nearly 
six  months.  He,  his  companion  Dietrich,  and  his 
servant  Cyriac,  resided  here  alone,  with  no  company 
but  the  keepers  and  attendants  and  occasional  visit- 
ers, and  had  the  whole  of  the  great  building,  which 
crowns  the  hill  and  the  fortress,  to  themselves. 
Being  here  without  books  for  several  weeks,  he 


452  LIFE   OF  LUTHER.  [1525. 

amused  himself  in  a  playful  description  of  a  diet 
held  by  the  birds  which  congregated  about  his 
lofty  abode. 

Here  the  old  complaint  from  which  he  had 
suffered  so  much,  that  of  a  roaring  noise  in  his 
head,  especially  in  his  left  ear,  returned  upon 
him;  and,  as  usual,  Satan  came  with  it,  armed 
with  the  fiery  darts  of  temptation.  Notwith- 
standing Luther's  ill  health  and  dejection,  he 
translated  the  prophetical  writings,  wrote  the 
well-known  sermon  enforcing  upon  parents  the 
duty  of  sending  their  children  to  school,  and 
other  treatises,  besides  a  great  number  of  letters 
to  the  elector  and  to  his  friends  concerning  the 
proceeding  of  this  diet.  Though  Melancthon  wTas 
the  chief  agent  in  drawing  up  the  Augsburg 
Confession  and  the  Apology,  or  defence  of  it,  it 
was  Luther,  standing  behind  the  curtain,  that 
exercised  control  over  the  minds  of  the  evan- 
gelical princes  and  theologians.  As  formerly  in 
his  Patmos,  so  here  in  his  Sinai,  as  he  called  it, 
his  was  the  ruling  spirit. 

The  letters  of  Luther,  from  the  time  of  his 
marriage  to  that  of  his  death,  are  so  numerous 
and  so  abound  in  incident  that  they  serve  well 
as  a  substitute  for  a  minute  journal.  It  will  be 
proper,  therefore,  to  take  advantage  of  this  cir- 
cumstance, and  follow  him  through  some  of  the 
scenes  already  alluded  to. 

In  a  letter  to  Amsdorf,  now  pastor  at  Magde- 
burg, written  June  21,  1525,  after  saying  that 
the  report  of  his  sudden  marriage  with  Catharine 
von  Bora  is  true,  and  that  he  took  this  step  partly 


M.  41.]  PEASANTS'  WAR.  453 

in  compliance  Avith  the  wish  of  his  father,  partly 
to  confirm  his  own  teaching  by  example,  and 
partly  to  show  some  degree  of  boldness  at  a 
time  when  everybody  is  terror-struck,  adding, 
incidentally,  that  he  loves  his  wTife,  though  he 
is  not  enamoured  or  fired  with  passion,  he  thus 
speaks  of  the  Peasants'  War,  which  was  then 
raging:  "Meiningen,  Mellerstadt,  Neustadt  and 
Marstadt,  with  ten  other  towns,  [in  the  south- 
west of  Saxony,]  have  surrendered  to  the  elector, 
and  he  is  restoring  peace  and  order  there.  It  is 
ascertained  that  in  Franconia  about  eleven  thou- 
sand peasants  are  slain  in  three  different  places, 
sixty-one  bombs  taken,  and  the  citadel  of  Wirtem- 
berg  liberated.  The  Margrave  Casimir  [of  the 
house  of  Brandenburg,  which  possessed  one  or 
two  principalities  in  the  vicinity  of  Bayreuth] 
is  proceeding  furiously  against  his  subjects,  for 
having  violated  their  faith.  In  the  duchy  of  Wir- 
tembcrg  six  thousand  have  been  slain;  in  other 
parts  of  Suabia  ten  thousand.  The  Duke  of  Lor- 
raine, it  is  said,  hath  put  to  the  sword  twenty 
thousand  in  Alsace.  Thus  the  miserable  peasants 
are  everywhere  cut  down.  How  it  is  in  Bam- 
berg, we  shall  soon  hear.  But  in  Breisgau  [Ba- 
den] the  insurrection  is  still  in  progress,  and  also 
in  the  Tyrol,  so  much  so  that  from  Inspruck  to 
Trent  all  is  in  a  state  of  commotion,  and  the 
Bishops  of  Brixen  and  of  Trent  are  put  to  flight. 
Duke  George  is  about  to  hold  a  conference  at 
Dessau  with  the  Margrave  and  the  Archbishop  of 
Mainz.  The  report  is,  that,  inflated  with  his  suc- 
cess, he  will  pursue  me.     He  thinketh  me  to  be 


454  LIFE   OF  LUTHER.  [1525. 

like  unto  Muncer  in  doctrine.  But  Christ  will 
bestow  his  grace.  See  that  he  do  not  make  an 
attack  upon  Magdeburg." 

In  the  following  letter  to  the  elector  (July  20) 
are  some  interesting  facts  relating  to  Spalatin  : 
"  George  Spalatin  hath  informed  me  that  he  is 
called  on  by  your  grace  to  take  into  further  con- 
sideration the  proposal  to  make  him  preacher  at 
Altenburg,  and  desireth  me  to  write  your  grace 
on  this  behalf.  I  therefore  humbly  submit  unto 
you,  that  I  remain  of  the  same  opinion  as  before. 
For  he  is  a  man  of  learning,  a  comely  speaker,  of 
good  manners  and  morals,  and,  what  affecteth  me 
most,  is  of  a  pure  and  upright  heart,  and  will  deal 
faithfully  with  the  word  of  God  and  with  souls. 
Whether  his  health  is  too  feeble,  the  experiment 
must  show." 

To  Brismann,  of  Konigsberg,  he  writes,  Au- 
gust 16  :  "If  the  poison  of  Carlstadt  or  Zwingle 
concerning  the  sacrament  reacheth  unto  you,  be 
on  your  guard  against  it.  .  .  .  Muncer  and  the 
peasants  have  so  prostrated  the  gospel  with  us, 
and  so  aroused  the  Papists,  that  it  seemeth  as  if 
it  must  all  be  built  up  again.  For  which  reason 
I  have  testified  to  the  gospel  not  only  by  word 
but  by  deed,  in  marrying  a  nun  in  the  face  of  my 
enemies,  who  are  triumphing  and  ciying  '  Io !' 
'  Io  !'  that  I  might  not,  though  old  and  unsuitable, 
seem  to  yield  up  the  ground ;  and  I  shall  do  some 
other  things,  if  I  am  able,  which  will  trouble  them 
and  make  known  God's  word. 

"Duke  George,  the  Elector  of  Brandenburg, 
and  the  two  Dukes  of  Brunswick  have  sworn  to 


JE.  41.]  EXTRACTS   FROM   LETTERS.  455 

each  other  that  they  will  restore  the  old  order  of 
things.  Our  Elector  John,  though  much  bela- 
boured by  George,  standeth  firm,  so  that  the 
latter  is  almost  beside  himself  and  bursting  with 
anger.  The  Landgrave  of  Hesse  is  also  believed 
to  stand  firm,  though  he  hath  been  visited  and 
urged  by  the  Duke  of  Brunswick,  as  delegate  from 
the  council  of  princes.  The  imperial  cities  are 
now  consulting  how  they  shall  stand  by  the  gos- 
pel, although  threatened  by  angry  princes." 

That  the  university  should  not  prosper  under 
such  circumstances  was  almost  a  matter  of  course. 
Luther  wrote  to  Spalatin,  September  G,  not  a  little 
alarmed  :  "The  report  hath  come  to  our  ears  that 
the  elector's  mind  is  alienated  from  our  univer- 
sity, and  that  he  is  displeased  with  our  move- 
ments as  unjustifiable.  We  have  great  difficulty 
in  keeping  our  students,  who  will  rush  forth  at 
every  gate  and  go  into  all  the  world,  if  these 
reports  are  found  to  be  true." 

The  next  week  he  wrote  to  the  elector:  "Al- 
though I  and  all  the  rest  confidently  rely  on  your 
grace's  promise  concerning  the  university,  still  we 
perceive  that  you  arc  hindered  by  other  necessary 
occupations,  and  particularly  by  the  assembly  of 
the  estates.  I  cannot,  therefore,  omit  to  remind 
you  of  it,  and  to  beg  that  you  will  send  some  one 
to  us,  or  write  and  inform  us  of  your  purposes. 
Otherwise,  since  many  lectures  are  dropped,  and 
some  not  being  yet  paid  for  are  likely  to  be  dis- 
continued, there  will  be  reason  to  fear  that  we 
shall  be  unable  to  retain  the  students." 

To  his  friend  Sticfel  he  wrote,  September  29  : 


456  LIFE   OF  LUTHER.  1525. 

"I  have  this  night  caused  thirteen  nuns  to  be  re- 
moved out  of  Duke  George's  dominions,  and  thus 
snatched  from  the  raging  tyrant  the  spoils  of 
Christ.  Our  princes  [the  elector  and  his  son] 
have  openly  espoused  the  gospel.  Master  Ebe- 
rard  [prior  of  the  cloister  at  Wittenberg]  is  made 
Bishop  at  Altenburg  with  Spalatin.  The  income 
of  the  monastery  we  have  resigned  to  the  elector, 
and  I  live  as  a  private  householder,  remaining  in 
the  monastery." 

On  occasion  of  Spalatin's  marriage,  Luther 
wrote,  December  G  :  "  Grace  and  peace  in  the 
Lord,  and  joy  in  your  sweet  wife,  also  from  the 
Lord.  As  disagreeable  as  your  marriage  is  to 
your  Baalitish  brethren,  [the  priests  of  Alten- 
burg,] so  agreeable  is  it  to  me.  God  hath  granted 
me  nothing  more  agreeable,  the  gospel  excepted, 
than  the  privilege  of  hearing  and  knowing  that 
you  are  a  husband.  With  what  feelings  and  for 
what  causes  I  was  detained  from  attending  your 
joyful  wedding,  Master  Eberard  will  explain.  I 
cannot  now  travel  so  safely  as  I  could  under  a 
prince  who  had  not  declared  his  views.  ...  I,  in 
my  poverty,  would  have  sent  you  that  gold  cup 
which  you  gave  me  at  my  marriage,  had  I  not 
feared  it  would  offend  you.  I,  therefore,  send  you 
all  that  remains  of  those  presents,  not  knowing 
whether  it  came  from  you  or  not.  My  affection 
you  will  regard  as  much  in  a  small  gift  as  in  a 
great  one."  So  violent  was  the  opposition  of  the 
canons  and  priests  at  Altenburg  to  this  infraction 
of  the  papal  law,  requiring  celibacy  in  the  clergy, 
that  it  was  necessary  for  Luther  to  request  pro- 
tection for  his  friend  of  the  elector. 


M.  11.]  EXTRACTS   FROM   LETTERS.  457 

The  following  letter  to  Link  of  Nuremberg, writ- 
ten near  the  close  of  December,  shows  what  dif- 
ferent cares  and  thoughts  often  occupied  Luther's 
mind:  "The  King  of  England,  to  whom,  at  the 
instance  of  the  King  of  Denmark,  I  wrote  an  hum- 
ble and  suppliant  letter,  with  pleasant  anticipations 
and  good  and  pure  intentions,  hath  replied  to  me 
with  a  bitterness  which  showeth  that  he,  like  Duke 
George,  rejoiceth  at  an  opportunity  for  revenge. 
So  impotent  and  womanly  are  the  minds  of  these 
tyrants,  so  sordid  and  vulgar,  that,  thanks  to  Christ, 
and  joy  to  myself !  it  is  sufficient  revenge  for  me  to 
despise  Satan,  their  god,  together  with  themselves. 

"  I  rejoice  at  the  promise  you  make  of  sending 
me  garden  seeds  in  the  spring.  Send  as  many  as 
you  can.  I  desire  them  and  shall  expect  them. 
If  there  is  any  thing  I  can  send  you  in  turn,  order 
it  and  it  shall  be  done.  For,  while  Satan  and  his 
subjects  rage,  I  will  laugh  and  contemplate  gar- 
dens, which  are  God's  blessings,  and  enjoy  them 
to  his  praise. 

"  Because  with  us  barbarians  there  arc  no  arts 
nor  exercise  of  the  ingenuity,  I  and  my  servant 
W'dl (gang  have  taken  up  the  art  of  turning.  We 
send  you  this  gold  piece,  that  }rou  may,  at  your 
convenience,  procure  some  instruments  for  hollow- 
ing and  turning,  together  with  two  or  three  screws 
forthe  lathe,  which  any  turner  will  show  you.  We 
have  instruments  here,  but  we  wish  to  gel  some 
more  elegant,  after  your  Nuremberg  fashion.  If 
they  cosl  more,  the  money  shall  be  sent,  though  I 
think  all  such  things  are  cheaper  with  you  than 
with  us.      Thus,  if  the  world  shall  be  unwilling  to 

39 


458  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1525. 

support  us  to  preach  the  gospel,  we  will  learn  to 
live  by  the  labour  of  our  hands,  and  then,  after 
the  example  of  our  heavenly  Father,  serve  the 
unworthy  and  ungrateful." 

In  a  similar  strain  he  wrote  to  Amsdorf,  at  the 
beginning  of  the  new  year,  January  3,  1520  : 
"  By  Bruno,  the  bearer  of  this,  I  send  you  seven 
florins,  my  dear  Amsdorf,  to  pay  for  the  butter 
and  dried  fish.  For  though  I  have  lost  your  let- 
ter, I  recollect  that  this  is  about  the  amount  due 
you.  I  wrote  to  Duke  George  a  very  humble  and 
candid  letter,  and  he  answered  me,  according  to 
his  character,  with  that  stolidity  and  rustic  fero- 
city which  runs  in  his  Bohemian  blood.  The 
letter  is  every  way  worthy  of  himself.  You  shall 
see  a  copy  of  it.  It  is  currently  reported  that 
you  have  taken  that  Suabian  damsel,  my  former 
flame,  for  your  wife.  It  will  be  odd  if  3^011  reta- 
liate upon  me  by  such  a  secret  movement." 

Of  the  use  he  made  of  his  influence  with  the 
elector,  we  have  a  good  example  in  a  letter,  writ- 
ten about  the  middle  of  April :  "  First,"  says  he, 
"  I  present  a  request  from  a  young  singer  by  the 
name  of  Holzwart,  whom  your  grace  hath  sup- 
ported one  year,  with  the  encouragement  that  }rou 
would  do  better  by  him,  if  you  could,  afterward,  as 
the  petition  showeth.  He  appeareth  to  have  good 
talents.    All  which  is  referred  to  your  good  pleasure. 

"  Secondly,  a  request  already  made  for  a  nun 
of  Nimptschcn,  near  Grimma,  by  the  name  of 
Alsey  Gaudelitz,  that  she  may  recover  something 
from  the  cloister  to  which  she  gave  much.  No 
answer  hath  yet  been  received. 


M.  42.]  EXTRACTS    FROM   LETTERS.  459 

"  Thirdly,  God  hath  sent  us  two  guardians  [su- 
periors in  a  monastery]  from  France.  They  were 
plundered  on  their  way,  as  they  were  coming 
hither  to  study  theology.  The  pastor  and  my- 
self are  supporting  them,  relying  upon  your  gra- 
cious aid,  hoping  you  would  give  them  five  or  six 
gulden.  If  you  cannot,  then  we  must  dismiss 
them  after  giving  what  we  can,  and,  after  all,  beg 
it  again  from  your  grace.  God  sendcth  us  many 
poor,  and  we  are  poor  ourselves,  and  yet  are  pro- 
vided for. 

"Fourthly,  the  request  of  a  pious  man,  whom 
T  have  thought  of  sending  as  preacher  to  Arnstadt. 
.  .  .  lie  hath  been  here  three  years,  and  I  have 
helped  him  what  I  could;  for  what  I  do  is  from 
your  grace's  bounty,  for  I  have  nothing  of  my  own 
to  give.  I  wish  your  grace  would  grant  him 
something,  for  he  possesseth  piety,  learning  and 
talents,  hut  is  poor  and  destitute,  and  I  cannot  do 
so  much  for  him  as  is  necessaiy.  I  refer  it  to 
your  good  pleasure. 

"  Finally,  I  entreat  for  m}'sclf,  as  formerly,  that 
your  grace  will  not  suffer  the  singing  to  be  so  neg- 
lected. The  persons  belonging  to  the  choir  [boys] 
are  growing  up,  and  the  art  of  music  deserveth, 
moreover,  to  be  sustained  by  princes  and  lords. 
More  than  enough  to  support  them  here  is  applied 
elsewhere,  without  so  great  need.  The  monastic 
funds  might  usefully,  and  with  the  approbation  of 
God,  be  applied  to  support  such  persons. 

"Enough  lor  once;   please  receive  it  graciously." 

The  history  of  a  certain  cup  or  vessel,  presented 
to  Luther,  is  not  only  amusing,  but  strikingly  illus- 


4G0  LIFE    OF    LUTIIER.  [1526. 

trative  of  the  times  and  of  the  character  of  the 
parties  concerned.  Luther,  in  a  note  to  his  friend 
Hausmann,  pastor  at  Zwickau,  dated  March  27, 
152G,  says  :  "I  thank  you  for  the  vessel.  I  did 
not  expect  it  would  be  done  up  with  so  much  la- 
bour and  care,  for  it  was  well  enclosed  in  a  wicker- 
work  of  vines.  But  you  excited  the  desire  of 
my  Katy  too  much,  as  is  wont  to  be  the  case  with 
these  women.  I  am  delighted  with  the  minerals, 
but  am  unwilling  to  take  them  away  from  you. 
You  have  others  to  whom  you  can  give  them.  If 
there  is  any  thing  else,  don't  waste  it  upon  my 
curiosity."  In  a  letter,  written  about  three  weeks 
afterward  to  Agricola,  at  Eisleben,  recommending 
a  young  man  about  to  open  a  school  there,  he  says  : 
"  That  vessel  from  Zwickau,  oh !  how  changed  it  is 
since  you  saw  it,  and  how  beautiful !  But  concern- 
ing this  and  the  cup  presented  me  by  Meinhard,  at 
another  time.  For  of  these  magnificent  things  I 
cannot  write  to-day,  and  so  briefly."  A  month 
later  he  writes  to  the  same  :  "  I  send  you  that 
pewter  and  glass  vessel  before  it  finds  another 
OAvner."  And  then  in  a  postscript,  adds  :  "  Behold, 
when  I  was  ready  to  give  the  letter  to  the  mes- 
senger, and  looked  for  the  cup,  my  Katy,  that 
enemy  in  ambush,  had  carried  it  off.  I  would 
have  got  hold  of  it,  but  our  provosts  and  plebeians, 
[probably  certain  members  of  the  household,]  who, 
perhaps,  have  taken  it  in  charge,  conspired  together 
and  hindered  me.  It  must  be  put  off,  therefore, 
till  she  gets  up  from  childbed,  and  when  she  brings 
it  forth  I  will  seize  it  for  you."  The  end  of  the 
story  is  given  in  a  subsequent  letter  to  Hausmann  : 


M.  42.]  EXTRACTS   FROM   LETTERS.  4G1 

"My  chain  [wife]  tenaciously  holds  the  glass 
vessel  ornamented  and  presented  me  by  yourself. 
Otherwise,  Agricola  of  Eisleben  would  have  beg- 
ged it  away  from  me." 

A  day  or  two  afterward,  we  find  him  writing  to 
the  elector  the  following  request,  in  behalf  of  an 
old  schoolmaster  of  his  :  "The  bearer  of  this,  Mr. 
Bigand,  hath  given  up  his  parish  at  Waltershausen 
to  the  town-council,  in  consequence  of  an  agree- 
ment, made  by  yourself,  to  allow  him  thirty  florins 
annually  from  the  church  funds.  Now  the  money 
doth  not  come,  perhaps  the  council  have  not  those 
fluids  in  charge,  and  this  old  man  must  wander 
abroad  for  his  living.  As  he  was  my  schoolmas- 
ter, whom  it  is  my  duty  to  honour,  I  humbly  beg 
your  grace  not  to  suffer  my  old  schoolmaster  to 
be  deprived  of  his  money,  but  graciously  to  aid 
him,  that  he  may  not  be  left  to  beg  in  his  old  age." 

At  the  close  of  a  note  to  his  brother-in-law, 
Riihel,  he  thus  announces  the  birth  of  his  first- 
born :  "  Please  say  to  Agricola,  for  me,  that  my 
dear  Katy  hath,  by  the  great  blessing  of  God, 
borne  me  a  son,  John  Luther,  yesterday,  at  two 
o'clock,  the  very  day  when  dot  [  he  gives]  standeth 
in  the  calendar;  and  that  he  must  not  wonder  that 
I  storm  him  so  early  with  this  intelligence,  for  he 
himself  ought  to  think,  about  this  time,  what  ii  is 
to  have  sons.  Greet  the  dear  mother  of  your 
children,  and  Agricola's  Elsey.  My  sick  Katy  is 
the  cause  of  my  sending  you  only  this  scrawl." 
Referring  to  the  same  event  in  a  letter  to  Spala- 
tin,  he  speaks  of  being  a  "happy  husband,  and 
having,  by  the  great  blessing  of  God,  been  pre 

39* 


462  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1520. 

sented  with  a  son  from  the  best  of  wives  and  the 
most  excellent  of  women ;"  and  closes  by  saying, 
"When  }ron  come  to  see  us,  will  you  still  find  the 
old  monuments  of  our  friendship  and  intimacy? 
I  have  planted  a  garden,  and  built  a  fountain. 
Come,  and  you  shall  be  crowned  with  lilies  and 
roses."  To  Agricola  he  writes  again,  "  I  have 
received  your  letter,  in  which  you  say  my  mother 
was  hindered  from  coming  to  me.  Let  Christ 
do  what  he  pleaseth,  and  it  will  be  well.  Little 
John  Luther  is  doing  well,  though  he  is  a  slender 
child,  and  hath  too  little  nourishment  from  his 
mother." 

As  a  specimen  of  his  ecclesiastical  correspond- 
ence, Ave  will  present  a  letter,  addressed  August 
8, 152G,  to  the  Council  of  Miihlhausen,  which  was 
the  head-quarters  of  Muncer's  army  the  previous 
year:  "Grace  and  peace  in  Christ,  honourable, 
wise  and  dear  sirs.  At  the  command  of  our  gra- 
cious lord,  Duke  John,  Elector  of  Saxony,  I  have 
selected  a  preacher  for  his  grace  to  send  to  you. 
That  individual,  John  Mantel,  reader  in  our  church 
at  Wittenberg,  now  cometh  to  you,  who,  as  far  as 
God  givcth  unto  men  to  do,  will,  I  hope,  take  the 
care  of  you,  as  a  learned,  affable,  quiet,  pious 
man.  I  beg  you,  therefore,  to  receive  and  regard 
him  in  a  Christian  manner,  as  I  doubt  not  }'ou  will. 
And  may  Christ  graciously  look  upon  you  and 
help  you,  after  all  j^our  wretchedness,  that  rebel- 
lion may  cease,  and  that  you  may  learn  to  follow 
his  pure  and  holy  word.  I  would  gladly  have 
come  with  him,  but  our  circumstances  here  would 
not  allow  it." 


M.  42.]  EXTRACTS   FROM   LETTERS.  4G3 

August  28,  he  replies  to  an  inquiry  of  Link, 
respecting  parental  authority,  and  maintains  that 
it  ought  always  to  be  asserted,  though  not  always 
exercised,  and  then  subjoins  the  following  intelli- 
gence :  "  The  diet  of  Spire  is  held  as  the  Germans 
are  wont  to  hold  diets,  with  drinking  and  sports, 
and  nothing  more.  Here  there  is  nothing  new, 
save  that  Wittenberg  is  fortified  with  such  great 
labour,  that,  comparing  the  past  with  the  present, 
you  would  hardly  know  it.  I  am  now  lecturing 
on  Ecclesiastes,  which  is  stubborn  and  refuses  to 
be  explained,  so  full  is  it  of  Hebraisms  and  of  the 
obscurities  of  an  unknown  tongue;  nevertheless, 
by  the  grace  of  God,  I  shall  break  through  the 
obstacles.  Pray  for  me;  and  farewell,  both  you 
and  your  rib,  whom  may  God  bless  in  her  ap- 
proaching crisis.  My  son  is,  by  the  mercy  of 
God,  living  and  well.  Philip  [Melancthon,]  who 
is  a  little  better,  and  would  be  better  still  if  he 
could  have  a  respite  from  his  labours,  saluteth 
you." 

An  interesting  and  lasting  friendship  commenced 
with  the  incident  referred  to  in  the  subjoined  aote: 
"April  '2'2.  To  Frederic,  abbot  at  Nuremberg. 
Grace  and  peace.  Though  we  are  unknown  to 
each  other,  I  write  to  yon,  most  excellent  sir, 
because  of  what  Link,  my  friend,  and  more  than 
a  friend  to  you,  hath  done  in  sending  to  me,  in 
your  name,  a  brass  clock,  a  most  acceptable  pre- 
sent. This  hath  compelled  me  to  become  a  disci- 
ple of  our  mathematicians,  to  learn  the  forms  and 
rules  of  one  single  clock;  for  I  never  before  saw 
such  an  one,  so  little  am  I  acquainted  with  inathe- 


464  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1526. 

matical  affairs.  Would  that  I  had  the  power  to 
respond  in  like  manner  to  the  kindness  expressed 
by  this  gift;  nothing  would  please  me  more." 

In  other  letters,  which  cannot  be  quoted,  he 
speaks  of  having  received  garden-seeds,  ("all  of 
which,  except  the  melons  and  cucumbers,  grew 
well,")  and  the  turning  instrument  for  which  he 
wrote,  together  with  a  quadrant  and  a  wooden 
clock.  "  Send  me,"  he  says,  in  another  letter, 
"seeds  for  my  garden  in  as  great  variety  as  you 
can ;  for,  if  I  live,  I  will  be  a  horticulturist." 

Many  of  Luther's  letters  refer  to  schools,  and 
show  an  intense  interest  in  teachers,  both  in  the 
higher  and  in  the  lower,  in  public  and  in  private 
schools.  A  letter  written  May  2,  1527,  to  Elsey 
von  Kanitz,  requesting  her  to  open  .a  girl's  school 
in  Wittenberg,  presents  the  reformer  in  an  inte- 
resting light.  "  My  dear  friend  in  Christ,"  he  says, 
"  I  wrote  to  your  dear  aunt  Anna  von  Plausig,  re- 
questing her  to  send  you  to  me  for  a  time ;  for  I 
have  desired  to  employ  you  in  teaching  young  girls, 
and  through  you  to  give  an  example  for  others  to 
follow.  You  shall  be  in  my  house  and  sit  at  my 
table,  so  that  you  shall  have  no  risk  nor  trouble. 
I  beg  you,  therefore,  riot  to  decline  the  proposal." 

Luther  and  his  wife  appear  to  have  been  ten- 
derly attached  to  the  wife  of  John  Agricola,  school- 
teacher at  Eisleben.  A  letter  written  to  Agricola, 
in  May,  L527,  contains  expressions  of  tenderness 
such  as  are  often  found  in  Luther's  correspondence. 
"It  seemeth  to  us  best,"  he  says,  at  the  close. 
"that  your  Elsey  should  come  and  spend  some 
days  with  us,  for  the  sake  of  a  change  in  the  cli- 


IE.  43.]  EXTRACTS   FROM   LETTERS.  465 

mate,  [Wittenberg  was  about  seventy  miles  to  the 
north-east  of  Eisleben.]  Consult  together  con- 
cerning this  matter,  for  we  will  gladly  do  whatso- 
ever can  in  any  way  be  beneficial  to  the  wife  who 
is  so  agreeable  to  you,  and  to  the  woman  who  is  so 
sincere  and  virtuous.  My  Katy,  who  is  troubled 
again  with  vomiting,  nausea,  and  dizziness  of  the 
head,  but  not  very  ill,  heartily  saluteth  you  and 
your  Elsey.  My  little  Jonny  is  lively  and  robust, 
and  eats  and  drinks  like  a  hero." 

This  amiable  lady  appears  to  have  suffered 
much,  and  to  have  become  dejected,  especially  as 
her  husband  was  at  that  time  called  from  home ; 
for  we  find  Luther  writing  to  her,  June  10th,  thus : 
"  Dear  Elsey.  Grace  and  peace.  I  had  it  in  mind 
lately  to  write  to  you,  but  Mr.  Matthes  was  away 
before  I  was  aware  of  it.  By  this  time  I  supiM.se 
your  husband  hath  returned  home,  so  that  it  is  not 
so  ill  with  you.  You  must  not  be  so  desponding 
and  fearful,  but  remember  that  Christ  is  near  to 
help  you  to  bear  your  sufferings.  For  he  hath  not 
so  forsaken  you  as  your  flesh  and  blood  suggest. 
Cry  unto  him  earnestly,  and  be  assured  he  will 
hear  you;  for  you  know  it  is  his  way  to  help, 
strengthen  and  comfort  all  who  desire  it,  Be  com- 
forted then,  and  consider  that  he  hath  suffered 
more  for  you  than  you  can  ever  suffer  for  him. 
We  will  also  pray,  and  pray  earnestly,  (hat  God 
will  accept  you  through  his  Son,  and  strengthen 
you  in  body  and  in  soul.  Greet  your  husband  and 
all  yours  in  our  name." 

Luther's  hearl  was  full  of  benevolence,  and  no 
opportunity  for  benefiting  the  poor  was  allowed  to 


466  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1527. 

pass  unimproved.  The  Franciscan  cloister,  which 
had  been  the  burial-place  for  the  electoral  family 
time  out  of  mind,  was  now  vacant,  the  monks  hav- 
ing left  their  cells.  The  elector  had  given  a  part 
of  the  grounds  and  buildings  to  a  man  by  the  name 
of  Burger.  Luther  wrote  to  the  former  :  "  We 
have  conversed  with  Burger  about  it,  and  he  is 
willing  to  give  the  place  up  for  the  benefit  of  the 
poor,  in  the  hope  that  you  will  bestow  upon  him 
another  in  its  place.  Since,  then,  the  cloister,  as 
the  burial-place  of  princes,  cannot  be  better  used 
.  .  .  than  in  the  service  of  God  and  for  the  relief 
of  the  poor,  in  whom  Christ  himself  is  served ; 
therefore  I  humbly  request,  in  conjunction  with 
the  city-council,  that  your  grace  will  grant  that 
the  cloister,  together  with  the  grounds  and  build- 
ings of  Burger,  be  given  to  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
as  a  retreat  and  residence  for  the  poor,  as  the  mem- 
bers of  his  body." 

A  melancholy  period  in  Luther's  life  now  ensues. 
The  plague  appeared  at  Wittenberg,  and  the  peo- 
ple fled  in  terror ;  the  university  was  removed  to 
Jena,  and  Luther,  overcome  in  body  and  in  mind, 
passed  through  a  scene  of  the  deepest  gloom,  agony 
and  despair.  He  writes  to  Melancthon,  August  2 : 
"  For  more  than  a  week  I  have  been  tossing  in 
death  and  hell,  so  prostrate  in  body  as  to  tremble 
all  over.  Christ  hath  been  almost  wholly  lost,  and 
I  have  been  agitated  with  the  billows  and  storms 
of  despair  and  blasphemy  against  God.  But  God, 
moved  by  the  prayers  of  the  saints,*  hath  began 
to  have  compassion  on  me,  and  hath  delivered  me 

*  His  Christian  friends. 


^E.43.]  EXTRACTS    FROM   LETTERS.  467 

from  the  lowest  hell.     Pray  continually  for  me,  as 
I  do  for  you.     I  believe  my  conflict  will  concern 
others  as  well  as  myself.     The  plague  is  here,  we 
are  fully  persuaded,  but  we  hope  it  will  be  mild 
and  gentle  with  us,  the  tender  flock  of  Christ,  al- 
ready afflicted  with  the  hatred  of  the  whole  world 
and  our  own  sufferings,  to  say  nothing  of  our  po- 
verty and  other  humbling  circumstances."     Ten 
days  later,  he  writes  to  Justus  Menius  :  "  Cease 
not  to  pray  earnestly  for  me  and  to  comfort  me, 
for  this   conflict  is   above  my  power.     Thus  far 
Christ  hath  been  a  faithful  Saviour,  nor  do  I  de- 
spair that  he  will  be  so  for  evermore.    I  have  been 
sick,  not  only  in  body,  but  much  more  in  soul, 
Satan  and  his  angels  have,  with  the  permission 
of  God  my  Saviour,  so  vexed  and  tormented  me." 
To  Spalatin  he  says,  in  a  letter  dated  August  19th  : 
"  The  plague  hath  indeed  begun  here,  but  it  is 
mild,  though  with  the  people  there  is  a  wonderful 
fear  and  fleeing  away,  so  that  I  never  saw  the  like 
of  Satan's  work  before.     He  rejoiceth  that  he  can 
so  terrify  men's  hearts  as  to  disperse  and  ruin  this 
our  university,  which  he,  not  without  cause,  hateth 
above  all  others.     Still,  in  all  this  time,  there  have 
been  but  eighteen  deaths  in  the  town,  including 
children.     In  the  fisher's  quarter  [south]  it  hath 
raged  vehemently;  in  our  quarter  [east]  there  hath 
been  no  death,  though  all  are  buried  here.   .   .   . 
Justus  Jonas's  little  son  John  is  dead.    Jonas  him- 
self hath  gone  to  his  native  place, ...  so  that  Bugen- 
hagen  and  I  are  here  alone  with  the  chaplains." 

An  evangelical  preacher  at  Halle,  George  Wink- 
ler by  name,  had  been  murdered,  at  the  instiga- 


468  LIFE   OF    LUTHER.  [1527. 

tion,  as  some  supposed,  of  the  Archbishop  of 
Mainz,  who  was  unwilling  that  the  light  should 
break  in  upon  this  favourite  residence  of  his.  Lu- 
ther, though  still  troubled  with  fierce  temptation, 
wrote  a  letter  of  encouragement  to  the  Christians 
of  Halle.  "  I  have  long  purposed,"  he  says,  "  my 
dear  friends,  to  write  to  }rou  a  letter  of  consolation 
for  the  calamity  which  Satan  hath  brought  upon 
you  by  the  murder  of  the  good  and  pious  Mas- 
ter George,  thereby  depriving  you  of  a  faithful 
preacher,  and  of  the  word  of  God ;  but  I  have  in 
divers  ways  been  hindered,  chiefly  by  my  own  ill- 
ness ;  and  though  I  am  not  yet  through  with  my 
difficulties,  I  can  wait  no  longer.  For  though  we 
would  not  be  comforted,  still  it  would  be  wrong  to 
be  silent  concerning  such  a  scandalous  and  trea- 
cherous murder,  and  so  let  it  pass,  and  leave  the 
blood,  whereby  the  word  of  God  hath  been  testi- 
fied, to  be  buried  in  the  ground.  Therefore  I  will 
publish  it,  and  help  it  to  cry  unto  heaven,  so  that, 
as  much  as  in  us  lieth,  such  a  murder  shall  not 
keep  silence,  till  God,  the  merciful  father  and  the 
just  judge,  hear  it,  as  he  did  Abel's ;  and  take  ven- 
geance on  the  old  eneni}^  murderer  and  traitor, 
who  hath  instigated  this  act,  and  cause  that  the 
blood  of  Master  George  be  a  seed  sown  in  the 
earth  by  Satan  and  his  emissaries,  which  shall 
bring  forth  a  hundred  fold ;  so  that,  instead  of  one 
murdered  George,  a  hundred  true  preachers  shall 
spring  up,  who  shall  do  Satan  a  thousand  times 
more  harm  than  one  man  could  do." 

The  following  letter  to  Amsdorf  has  a  peculiar 
interest,  as  being  written  on  the  tenth  anniversary 


M.  43.]  EXTRACTS   FROM   LETTERS.  469 

of  his  attack  upon  Tetzel's  indulgences  :  "  Grace 
and  peace.  It  pleaseth  the  Lord,  my  dear  Ams- 
dorf,  that  I,  who  have  formerly  comforted  so  many 
others,  should  myself  now  be  destitute  of  all  com- 
fort. One  thing  I  ask,  and  do  you  ask  the  same 
with  me,  namely,  that  my  Christ  do  with  me  whal 
he  will,  only  that  he  leave  me  not  to  be  ungrate- 
ful and  to  become  his  enemy,  whom  I  have  here- 
tofore preached  and  adored  with  such  zeal  and 
fervour,  although  I  have,  in  the  mean  time,  of- 
fended him  with  many  and  great  sins.  Satan 
seeketh  to  have  another  Job  given  over  to  him. 
.  .  .  My  house  beginneth  to  be  an  hospital.  Anna, 
wife  of  Augustine  [Schurf,]  hath  had  the  plague, 
I  hi  i  is  recovering.  .  .  .  For  my  Katy,  who  is  in  cri- 
tical circumstances,  I  have  great  fears.  My  little 
John  is  sick,  and  hath  eaten  nothing  for  three  days. 
.  .  .  Thus  we  have  fightings  without,  and  fears, 
great  fears  within;  Christ  visiteth  us.  One  solace 
remaineth,  which  we  can  oppose  to  Satan,  namely, 
thai  we  have  the  word  of  God  for  saving  the  souls 
that  believe,  however  it  may  be  with  our  bodies. 
Commend  us  to  the  brethren,  and  pray  for  us,  that 
we  may  patiently  bear  the  hand  of  the  Lord  that 
is  upon  us,  and  conquer  the  power  and  devices  of 
Satan,  whether  by  our  death  or  by  our  life.  Wit- 
tenberg, All-saints'  day,  the  tenth  year  from  the 
trampling  down  of  indulgences." 

The  last  day  of  the  year  1527,  he  says  :  "We 
are  all  well,  except  Luther  himself,  who,  though 
well  in  body,  suffereth  without  from  all  the  world, 
and  within  from  Satan  and  all  his  angels."  The 
following  letter,  in  which  he  playfully  rebukes 

40 


470  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1527. 

Justus  Menius  and  his  other  Erfurt  friends  for 
not  visiting  him  when  he  was  at  Weimar,  near  by 
them,  brings  the  author  before  us  again  in  his  old 
and  easy  attire  :  "  I  expected  some  of  you  would 
come  and  visit  me  here,  and  wonder  what  could 
hinder  you,  since  there  was  no  obstacle  in  the 
length  nor  breadth  nor  height  of  the  way,  for  the 
sky  and  sun  were  serene  above.  I  will  excuse  you 
for  this  neglect,  if  you  will  some  time  explain  to  me 
the  reason  of  such  a  breach  of  the  laws  of  friend- 
ship, charity  and  humanity.  Erfurt  is  Erfurt; 
Erfurt  will  be  Erfurt ;  Erfurt  always  was  Erfurt. 
What  else  can  I  think  or  say?  Greet  the  breth- 
ren for  me,  and  your  Eye  and  Abels  and  Seths." 

We  have  already  had  occasion  to  speak  of  Nu- 
remberg as  a  renowned  and  refined  city,  which 
shone  like  a  bright  star  in  the  time  of  the  Refor- 
mat ion.  There  lived  Pirkheimer,  the  patrician  and 
scholar;  there  preached  Link  and  Osiander;  there 
was  the  great  Diirer,  the  painter,  and  Eoban  Hess, 
the  elegant  scholar  and  poet,  and  Camerarius,  the 
classical  teacher,  and  Baumgartner  and  others. 
Diirer  died  April  6,  1528,  and  his  death  called 
forth  a  beautiful  elegy  from  his  friend  Hess,  a  copy 
of  which  Luther  thus  acknowledged  :  "  I  have  re- 
ceived a  second  letter  from  you,  together  with  an 
Elegy  on  Diirer,  and  thus,  contrary  to  my  expec- 
tation, you  are  in  advance  of  my  reply  to  }rour 
former  letter.  For  I  had  resolved  to  reply  by  the 
first  carrier  I  should  find.  As  to  Diirer,  it  is  a 
pious  act  to  mourn  over  the  loss  of  so  excellent  a 
man.  But  it  is  yours  to  pronounce  him  happy 
that  Christ  hath  taken  him  away  so  well  prepared, 


M.  44.]  EXTRACTS   FROM   LETTERS.  471 

and  by  so  peaceful  an  end,  from  times  so  turbu- 
lent, and  to  be,  perhaps,  more  turbulent  still,  lest 
he,  who  was  worthy  of  the  happiest  times,  should 
live  to  see  the  most  wretched.  Let  him  rest  in 
peace,  then,  with  his  fathers.  I  thank  you  next 
for  the  love  which  breathes,  or  rather  flames  and 
burns,  in  every  word  of  both  your  letters.  Not 
that  I  am  worthy  of  such  praise  or  love,  but  be- 
cause I  cheerfully  suffer  myself  to  be  exalted  by 
the  testimony  and  favour  of  the  good  against  Satan 
and  his  ministers,  who  diligently  and  incessantly 
seek  my  blood  and  extinguish  me,  so  that  I  can 
boast  of  going  the  way  of  Paul,  through  honour 
and  dishonour,  through  good  report  and  evil  re- 
port. .  .  .  Blessed  be  my  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who 
hath  willed  I  should  be  such,  not  that  I  should 
boast,  but  that  many  through  me  should  be  saved 
Iron i  these  pestilent  spirits.  .  .  .  When  I  see  this 
prayer,  which  I  breathe  every  hour,  fulfilled,  I 
think  myself  happy ;  and  regard  it  as  an  abundant 
reward  of  my  labours  to  know  that  I  live  only  to 
serve  others.  I  rejoice,  therefore,  not  so  much  in 
the  praise  which  you,  in  your  partiality,  abun- 
dantly bestow,  as  in  the  truth  to  which  you  testify 
by  your  candour  and  too  great  affection  for  me.  and 
thus  with  great  openness  and  simplicity  confess 
Christ.  For  what  can  be  more  delightful  to  hear 
than  that  you,  and  others  like  you,  stand  strong 
against  Satan  by  a  substantial  and  pure  know- 
Ledge  of  Christ,  when  so  many,  whom  we  hoped 
would  be  pillars,  fall,  and  are  now  worse  enemies 
to  us  than  the  Turks  ?  I  therefore  pray  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  that  he  will  crown  you  with  his  hone- 


472  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1528. 

dictions,  and  preserve  you,  with  us,  perfect  and  un- 
blamable to  his  glorious  appearing.  Of  news  I 
have  nothing  to  send  you  to  your  emporium,  for 
Nuremberg  itself  is  the  eye,  as  it  were,  and  ear  of 
Germany,  which  seeth  and  heareth  every  thing,  a 
part  of  which,  perhaps,  never  cometh  to  our  know- 
ledge. Salute  your  dearest  doe,  together  with  your 
dear  fawns.  The  blessing  of  the  Lord  be  upon 
you."  How  beautifully  does  Luther  here  place 
himself  almost  within  the  soul  of  the  Nuremberg 
poet,  and  appropriate  to  himself,  for  the  time  being, 
the  qualities  of  his  mind ! 

To  a  letter  written  to  Spalatin,  dated  Witten- 
berg, "in  the  aerial  and  ethereal  house,"  (in  allu- 
sion to  the  name  of  the  owner,  Luft,  which  means 
air,)  he  appends  this  postscript :  "  Pomeranus, 
[Bugenhagen,  of  Pomerania,]  who  goeth  to  Bruns- 
wick, saluteth  you,  and  desireth  }rou  to  pray  for 
him.  Justus  Jonas,  fighting  against  the  gravel, 
saluteth  you,  and  desireth  you  to  pray  that  he  may 
get  the  victory.  Casper  Cruciger  saluteth  you, 
and  desireth  you  to  pray  for  him  that  his  hopes 
may  be  realized  ;  that  is,  if  you  do  not  understand 
it,  that  Duke  George  may  be  converted  to  Christ, 
or  be  bruised  by  Christ.  John  Mantell  saluteth 
you,  recently  bereaved  of  a  little  son,  the  same 
day  on  which  Bugenhagen  lost  his  elder  son  Mi- 
chael, having  lost  his  younger  son  John  two  weeks 
before,  and  desireth  you  to  pray  that  for  one  son 
he  may  receive  many.  My  Eve,  joyful  and  well, 
with  all  of  this  convivial  company,  saluteth  you, 
and  desireth  you  to  pray  for  her  (hat  her  third 
offspring  may  come  safely  to  the  world." 


JE.  45.]  EXTRACTS   FROM   LETTERS.  473 

The  visitation  of  the  churches  for  the  purpose 
of  doing  away  the  evils  of  the  papal  system,  and 
introducing  the  evangelical  in  its  stead,  continued 
after  several  interruptions  into  the  year  1529.  In 
February,  Luther,  who  was  still  engaged  in  that 
work,  in  which  more  than  thirty  men  had  been 
emplo}^ed,  wrote  to  Spalatin  the  following  lines, 
which  give  us  some  idea  of  the  state  of  the  people 
at  that  time  :  "  We  desire  to  know  what  you  are 
doing  in  the  visitation  and  how  you  succeed,  and 
we  are  surprised  that  you  do  not  mention  this  in 
your  letter.  We,  on  our  part,  confer  a  living  when 
it  is  necessary;  and  though  it  is  small,  yet  it  is  an 
aid  to  the  poor  pastors  to  have  two  acres  to  culti- 
vate. Furthermore,  we  strenuously  require  a  con- 
tribution from  each  individual.  But  the  condition 
of  the  churches  is  most  wretched ;  the  peasants 
learn  nothing,  know  nothing,  pray  for  nothing,  do 
nothing,  except  abuse  their  liberty,  neither  con- 
fessing nor  communing,  just  as  if  they  were  set 
free  from  all  religion.  For  they  have  neglected 
their  own  papal  ordinances;  they  despise  ours; 
so  that  the  administration  of  the  papal  bishops  is 
horrid  to  contemplate." 

Luther,  who  believed  that  all  physical  evils, 
bodily  pains,  diseases,  epidemics,  earthquakes  and 
calamities  of  every  sort,  were  produced  by  a  di- 
rect invisible  agency  of  Satan,  and  who  had  full 
faith  in  astrology,  was  led  by  the  strange  and  fright- 
ful character  of  the  times,  and  by  singular  appear- 
ances in  the  heavens,  to  believe  that  the  end  of  the 
world  was  at  hand.  After  describing  the  Northern 
Lights,  as  they  appealed  on  a  certain  evening,  he 


474  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1529. 

says,  "God  knoweth  what  these  signify."  At 
another  time,  referring  to  the  same  and  to  a  meteor 
which  was  seen  at  Breslau,  and  to  some  other  pecu- 
liar appearances  in  the  heavens,  he  says,  "I  believe 
these  signify  that  the  end  of  the  world  is  at  the 
door."  This  opinion  is  often  repeated  in  his  let- 
ters, but  it  is  unnecessary  to  accumulate  quotations. 

The  following  letter  to  Matthias,  Bishop  of  Dant- 
zic,  gives  us  a  more  pleasing  view :  "  Reverend 
father  and  venerable  in  the  Lord,  your  letters  and 
present  were  very  agreeable  and  acceptable  to  me 
in  the  Lord,  since  I  thereby  learned  that,  in  your 
old  age  and  before  the  end  of  life,  you  have  been 
captivated  and  illuminated  by  the  gospel  of  Christ, 
which  I  regard  as  the  miraculous  grace  of  God, 
knowing  as  I  do  how  dignitaries  of  your  order  are 
wont  to  resist  the  word  of  God.  The  Lord  Jesus, 
who  hath  begun  a  good  work,  perfect  it.  As  you 
have  a  desire  to  see  me,  so  it  would  give  me  in 
turn  great  joy  in  Christ  to  see  your  venerable  gray 
hairs  confessing  Christ  amidst  this  herd  of  hostile 
dignitaries,  who  dare  to  oppose.  It  is  not  in  my 
power,  however,  to  go  to  see  you.  May  God,  who 
is  able  to  do  it,  grant  that  Ave  may  meet  at  least 
once ;  and  may  he  mercifully  bless  and  keep  you." 

A  letter  to  Amsclorf,  dated  May  31,  1529, 
breathes  the  same  pure  spirit  of  love.  He  there 
says  :  "There  is  nothing  new  with  us  which  you 
do  not  already  know.  These  ministers  of  the  word 
at  Goslar,  [the  old  capital  of  Hanover,]  I  send  to 
3-011,  that  the}'  may  relate  to  you  the  condition  of 
the  church  there.  I  beg  you  to  receive,  and  hear 
them  kindly.     They  seem  to  be  good  men,  who 


M.  45.]  EXTRACTS  FROM  LETTERS.  475 

deserve  the  favour  of  the  pious ;  and  it  is  meet 
for  you  to  know  these  things,  inasmuch  as  you 
first  laid  the  foundations  of  piety  there,  and  have 
not  unsuccessfully  built  thereon.  It  will  animate 
these  trembling  believers  to  perceive  our  agreement 
and  joy  in  this  matter;  and  it  will  confound  Satan 
and  his  instruments,  or,  at  least,  impede  them. 
Therefore  cherish  and  comfort  them  in  the  bowels 
of  Christ.  They  who  dread  offences  and  are  so 
solicitous  for  peace  cannot  but  have  great  con- 
fidence in  Christ." 

To  the  Christians  in  Goslar  he  wrote  in  the  same 
spirit,  saying,  "I  rejoice  over  you  from  the  heart, 
and  pray  God,  the  Father  of  all  grace,  to  uphold 
and  prosper  you  in  this  way."  June  14,  Luther 
wrote  to  Justus  Jonas,  who  was  then  occupied 
abroad  in  the  work  of  visitation  thus  :  "  The  wall 
of  your  house  [in  the  west  part  of  the  town]  must 
wail  for  bricks  to  be  made  in  the  senate's  furnace. 
We  have  betrothed  Dr.  Augustin  [Schurf's]  sister 
to  [professor]  Milich.  Imgenhagon  writes  that  he 
will  soon  return  [from  Hamburg,]  and  when  he 
cometh,  I  [his  substitute  as  city  preacher]  can  act 
with  you  in  the  work  of  visitation,  if  it  shall  still 
be  necessary.  Philip  [Melancthon]  is  wasting  away 
under  his  anxiety  for  the  church  and  the  state." 

How  perfectly  overwhelmed  Luther  was  with 
labours  and  cares,  may  be  learned  from  the  closing 
pari  of  a  letter  to  Link,  in  which  he  says,  "You 
complain  in  your  last  letter  that  I  have  not  replied 
to  your  inquiry.  Be  not  surprised.  If  you  wish 
for  a  reply,  write  and  admonish  me  again.  For  I 
am  everyday  so  overwhelmed  with  letters,  that  my 


470  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1529. 

table,  benches,  foot-stools,  desks,  windows,  cases, 
boards  and  every  thing  are  full  of  letters,  inquiries, 
causes,  complaints,  petitions,  &c.  On  me  falleth  the 
whole  weight  of  the  church  and  the  state,  as  nei- 
ther the  ecclesiastics  nor  magistrates  perform  their 
duties.  You  at  Nuremberg  sit  and  play  in  Paradise, 
because  you  have  magistrates  who  provide  all 
things  for  you  to  enjoy  in  security  and  peace." 

We  find  another  striking  proof  that  Luther  took 
a  deep  interest  in  education,  and  that  his  opinion 
was  of  great  weight  on  this  subject,  in  the  follow- 
ing instructive  letter,  written  to  Margrave  George 
of  Brandenburg,  July  18,  1529:  "I  have  long 
delayed,  though  unwillingly,  to  reply  to  you,  for  at 
first  I  had  not  the  time,  when  the  messenger  was 
here,  and  afterward  I  had  no  way  to  send.  .  .  .  But 
now  I  will  tell  you  what  Melancthon  and  myself, 
upon  mature  consideration,  think  best  to  be  done. 

"First,  we  think  the  cloisters  and  foundations 
may  continue  to  stand  till  their  inmates  die  out.  .  .  . 
Secondly,  it  would  be  exceedingly  well  to  establish 
in  one  or  two  places  in  the  principality  a  learned 
school,  in  which  shall  be  taught,  not  only  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  but  law,  and  all  the  arts,  from  whence 
preachers,  pastors,  clerks,  counsellors,  &c.  may  be 
taken  for  the  whole  principality.  To  this  object 
should  the  income  of  the  cloisters  and  other  reli- 
gious foundations  be  applied,  so  as  to  give  an 
honourable  support  to  learned  men,  two  in  theology, 
two  in  law,  one  in  medicine,  one  in  mathematics, 
and  four  or  five  for  grammar,  logic,  rhetoric,  &c.  .  .  . 
Thirdly,  in  all  the  towns  and  villages  good  schools 
for  children  should  be  established,  from  which  those 


M.  45.]  EXTRACTS   FROM   LETTERS.  477 

who  are  adapted  to  higher  studies  might  be  taken 
and  trained  up  for  the  public." 

For  a  present  of  garments  from  the  elector, 
Luther  makes  this  singular  acknowledgment;, 
under  date  of  August  17:  "I  have  long  delayed 
to  thank  }^our  grace  for  the  clothes  and  garments 
which  were  sent  to  me.  I  humbly  beseech  your 
grace  not  to  believe  those  who  represent  that  I  am 
in  want.  I  have,  alas  !  more,  especially  from  your 
grace,  than  I  can  with  good  conscience  receive.  It 
is  not  meet  for  me,  a  preacher,  to  have  abundance, 
neither  do  I  desire  it.  Therefore,  when  I  perceive 
your  grace's  too  great  liberality  to  me,  I  am  not 
without  fear;  for  I  do  not  wish  to  be  found  here 
in  this  life  among  those  to  whom  Christ  saith, 
'  Wo !  unto  you  that  are  rich,  for  ye  have  received 
your  consolation.'  And,  furthermore,  to  speak 
after  a  worldly  manner,  I  desire  not  to  be  burden- 
some to  your  grace,  knowing  you  have  so  many 
occasions  to  give,  that  you  cannot  have  much  to 
spare;  for,  if  there  be  too  much,  it  rendeth  the 
sack.  Though  the  brown  cloth  would  of  itself  be 
too  much,  yet  I  will,  out  of  gratitude  and  honour 
to  your  grace,  wear  the  black  garment  also,  not- 
withstanding it  is  too  valuable,  so  that  I  would 
never  wear  it,  if  it  were  not  a  present  from  your 
grace.  I  beg  you,  therefore,  wait  till  I  complain 
and  ask,  so  that  I  may  not,  by  your  forwardness 
to  me,  be  prevented  from  begging  for  others,  who 
are  far  more  worthy  of  such  favours.  For  }rour 
grace  hath  already  done  too  much  for  me.  May 
Christ  graciously  ami  abundantly  repay  it." 

We  must  not  omit  to  give  at  least  one  speci- 


478  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1529. 

men,  out  of  a  hundred,  of  Luther's  contempt  for 
the  Zwinglian  party,  with  what  reason  the  reader 
can  judge.  While  at  Marburg  to  see  if  there 
could  be  a  union  formed  with  that  party,  he 
wrote  to  his  wife  the  following  letter  :  "  Dear  lord 
Katy,  know  that  our  friendly  colloquy  at  Marburg 
is  ended,  and  that  we  were  nearly  agreed  in  all 
points,  save  that  the  other  party  will  recognise 
nothing  but  bread  in  the  supper,  and  will  not  ad- 
mit that  Christ  is  present  except  spiritually.  To- 
day the  landgrave  trieth  to  see  if  we  cannot  be 
agreed,  or,  if  not  agreed,  that  we  recognise  each 
other  as  brethren  and  members  of  Christ.  He 
laboureth  hard  for  this;  but  we  want  nothing  of 
this  brothering  and  fellowship,  though  we  are  for 
peace  and  good-will.  .  .  .  Say  to  Bugenhagen  the 
best  arguments  were  those  of  Zwingle,  '  That  a 
body  cannot  exist  without  space ;  therefore  the 
body  of  Christ  is  not  in  the  bread ;'  and  of  CEco- 
lampadius,  '  That  the  sacrament  is  a  symbol  of  the 
body  of  Christ.'  I  think  God  hath  blinded  them 
that  they  could  bring  forward  nothing  better.  I 
have  much  to  do,  and  the  messenger  is  in  haste. 
Say  good  night  to  all,  and  pray  for  us.  We  are 
all  safe  and  sound,  and  live  like  princes.  Kiss 
Lene  and  Jonny  for  me." 

Luther's  father,  who  had  reached  to  an  advanced 
age,  was  taken  ill,  and  his  sickness  was  the  occa- 
sion of  a  letter  from  his  son,  full  of  tenderness 
and  love.  He  begins  thus  :  "  To  my  dear  father, 
John  Luther,  citizen  of  Mansfeld,  grace  and  peace 
in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord  and  Saviour,  Amen. 
Dear  father,  my  brother  Jacob  hath  written  to  me 


M.  45.]  EXTRACTS   FROM   LETTERS.  479 

how  that  you  are  dangerously  sick.     Since  the  air 
now  is  bad,  and  it  is  everywhere  dangerous,  and 
your  time  of  life  is  such,  I  am  made  very  anxious 
about  you.     For  though  God  hath  given  you  a 
firm  and  strong  body  and  hitherto  preserved  it, 
yet  your  age  [probably  not  less  than  eighty]  giveth 
me,  at  this  time,  anxious  thoughts,  although,  aside 
from  such  things,  none  of  us  are  sure  of  life,  or 
ought  to  be.    I  should  be,  beyond  expression,  glad 
to  visit  you  personally,  but  my  good  friends  op- 
pose and  have  dissuaded  me,  and  I  myself  must 
remember  that  I  ought  not  to  rush  into  danger, 
] i resuming  on  God;  for  you  know  what  kind  of 
favour  I  have,  from  both  lords  and  peasants.     It 
would  be  the  greatest  joy  to  me  if  it  were  possi- 
ble for  you  and  mother  to  come  hither  to  us,  which 
my  Katy  desireth  with  tears,  as   do  we  all.     I 
have  therefore  sent  Cyriac  [his  servant]  to  you, 
to   see   whether   your   health   will  allow   you   to 
come.     For  in  what  way  soever  God  shall   dis- 
pose of  you,  whether  for  this  life,  or  for  another, 
I  desire  heartily,  as  I  ought,  to  be  present  with 
you,  and,  by  filial  faithfulness  and  attention,  ac- 
cording to  the  fifth  commandment,  to  show  myself 
thankful  unto  God  and  unto  you."     He  then  goes 
on  to  comfort  his  lather  with  "  those  divine  truths 
which  God  had  already  given  him  to  know,"  and 
to   express   the  desire  and  hope   that  God  would 
""'carry  on  to  its  completion,  in  the  life  to  come, 
the  work  which  had  been  begun  in  him."    "  For/' 
he  adds,  "he  hath  already  sealed  in  you  these 
doctrines  and  this  faith,  and  confirmed  them  by 
signs,  inasmuch  as  you  have  with  us  all  suffered 


480  LIFE    OF   LUTIIER.  [1529. 

much   abuse,  reproach,  scorn,  contempt,  hatred, 
enmity  and  peril." 

Luther  has  been  accused  of  inhumanity  toward 
the  Anabaptists ;  and  when  we  compare  him  with 
the  mild  Brentz,  who  opposed  putting  them  to 
death  for  their  sentiments,  and  with  religious 
men  of  modern  times,  we  must,  in  .part  at  least, 
admit  the  charge.  But  in  this  he  was  not  alone. 
Most  of  the  Reformers  having  been  brought  up  in 
the  papal  church  were  led  to  countenance,  to  some 
extent,  her  revolting  doctrines  and  practices  in 
respect  to  those  whom  she  denounced  as  heretics. 
They  conscientiously  held  opinions  which  would 
be  repudiated  by  all  enlightened  Christians  at  the 
present  clay.  Without  dwelling  on  these  painful 
details,  we  will  adduce  one  brief  letter,  as  giving 
a  fair  specimen  of  Luther's  feelings,  and  thus 
dismiss  the  subject.  The  letter  is  addressed 
to  Menius  and  Myconius,  in  1530.  "  I  am 
pleased,"  he  says,  "  that  you  intend  to  publish  a 
book  against  the  Anabaptists  as  soon  as  possible. 
Since  they  are  not  only  blasphemous,  but  also 
seditious  men,  let  the  sword  exercise  its  right  over 
them.  For  this  is  the  will  of  God,  that  he  shall 
have  judgment  who  resisteth  the  power.  Let  us 
not,  therefore,  think  better  of  these  men  than  God 
himself  and  all  the  saints  have  done."  Yes,  the 
saints  made  themselves  like  unto  God,  and  as- 
sumed the  prerogative,  not  only  of  punishing  those 
Mho  were  actually  guilty  of  sedition,  but  of  putting 
to  death  heretics  whose  sentiments  were  judged 
to  be  seditious  in  their  tendency  •' 


m.  40.]  EXTRACTS   FROM  LETTERS.  481 

The  diet  of  Augsburg,  so  important  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  Reformation,  is  first  alluded  to  by  Lu- 
ther, in  a  letter  to  Justus  Jonas,  March  14,  1530, 
in  these  words :  "  The  elector  hath  written  to  us, 
that  is,  to  you,  Bugenhagen,  Melancthon  and  my- 
self, instructing  us  to  lay  all  other  business  aside 
and  come  together,  and,  before  next  Sunday,  pre- 
pare  whatever  is  necessary  for  the  coming  diet  of 
April  8.  For  the  Emperor  Charles  will  come 
thither  in  person,  as  he  writeth  in  his  mandate, 
to  adjust,  in  a  friendly  manner,  all  our  religious 
differences.  Wherefore,  though  you  are  absent, 
we,  the  other  three,  shall  do  to-day  and  to-mor- 
row what  we  can.  It  will  be  your  duty,  in  order 
to  comply  with  the  will  of  the  elector,  to  put  your 
work  [of  visitation]  into  the  hands  of  your  asso- 
ciates, and  be  with  us  here  to-morrow.  Every 
thing  must  be  hastened.  May  Christ  breathe 
upon  us,  that  all  things  may  be  done  to  his  glory." 

He  says  to  another  friend,  April  2  :  "I  am 
about  to  go  as  far  as  Coburg  with  the  elector. 
Melancthon  and  Jonas  will  also  go,  and  we  shall 
wait  there  till  it  shall  be  known  what  will  be  un- 
dertaken at  Augsburg."  The  same  day  he  writes 
to  his  young  friend  Cordatus,  who  had  experienced 
much  trouble  at  Zwickau,  and  was  now,  moreover, 
afflicted  with  the  loss  of  a  son:  "As  to  what  I 
hear  of  your  purpose  to  hasten  away  to  the  diet, 
I  would  say,  I  disapprove  of  it  altogether.  First, 
1  have  not  been  cited  thither,  but  I  am  to  go  with 
the  elector  only  to  the  border  of  his  dominions. 
Secondly,  the  cause  of  the  gospel  will  be  managed 
in  a  very  dilatory  way,  if  at  all ;  for  princes  are 

41 


482  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1530. 

not  wont  to  act  with  despatch  in  matters  of  reli- 
gion ;  and  the  Turkish  question  will,  moreover, 
have  the  precedence  there.  You  might,  if  you 
should  wish,  make  a  flying  excursion  thither,  at  a 
suitable  time,  and  let  your  Zwickau  men  get  a 
little  cool  and  gentle.  Salute  the  companion  of 
your  grief,  and  endeavour  to  rejoice  rather  in  a 
living  Christ  than  mourn  over  a  son  deceased,  or 
rather  living,  but  removed.  My  Katy  and  all  the 
family  salute  you." 

His  next  letter  is  dated  at  Coburg,  April  18, 
and  directed  to  Hausmann,  pastor  at  Zwickau : 
"  Say  to  Cordatus,"  he  writes,  "  that  we  still  re- 
main here,  not  knowing  when  we  shall  proceed 
farther.  Yesterday,  a  messenger  and  letters 
reached  us,  informing  us  that  the  emperor  was  at 
Mantua,  where  he  was  to  pass  the  festival  of 
Easter.  It  is,  moreover,  said,  that  the  Papists 
are  labouring  to  prevent  the  meeting  of  the  diet, 
out  of  fear  that  it  will  pass  decisions  against  them. 
The  pope  is  angry  with  the  emperor  for  wishing 
to  meddle  with  ecclesiastical  affairs,  and  to  give 
the  parties  a  hearing ;  for  they  had  hoped  he  would 
act  the  part  of  executioner  for  them,  and  restore 
all  things.  They  wish  not  to  change,  nor  to  lose 
any  thing,  nor  even  to  be  judged  or  examined,  but 
simply  that  we  be  condemned  or  destroyed,  and 
they  reinstated,  and  thus  destroyed.  So  they  will 
go  to  utter  ruin.  ...  I  am  commanded  by  the  elector 
to  remain  at  Coburg,  I  know  not  why,  while  the 
rest  proceed  to  the  diet.  Thus,  every  thing  grow- 
eth,  from  day  to  day,  more  and  more  uncertain." 

To  Melancthon,   after  he   had  left  Coburg  for 


M.  46.]  EXTRACTS   FROM   LETTERS.  483 

Augsburg,  Luther  writes  :  "  We  have  come  at 
length  to  our  Sinai,  my  dear  Philip ;  but  we  will 
make  of  this  Sinai  a  Zion,  and  build  here  three 
tabernacles,  one  for  the  Psalms,  one  for  the  Pro- 
phets, and  one  for  iEsop,  [three  works  to  be  pre- 
pared  for  the  press.]  But  this  last  is  temporal. 
The  place  is  exceedingly  lovely  and  convenient 
for  study,  save  that  your  absence  maketh  it  gloomy. 
...  I  pray  Christ  to  give  you  quiet  sleep,  and  to 
liberate  and  keep  your  heart  from  cares,  that  is, 
from  Satan's  fiery  darts.  These  things  I  write 
because  of  my  leisure,  for  I  have  not  yet  received 
my  desk,  papers,  &c,  nor  have  I  seen  either  of  the 
keepers.  Nothing  is  wanting  to  make  the  soli- 
tude complete.  That  immense  building  which 
towers  over  the  whole  fortress  is  all  ours,  with 
the  keys  to  all  the  apartments.  More  than  thirty 
persons  are  said  to  take  their  food  here,  of  whom 
twelve  are  night  guards,  and  two  watchmen  in  the 
different  towers.  But  what  of  all  this?  Why, 
simply,  that  I  have  nothing  else  to  write." 

A  mind  like  Luther's  could  not  remain  inactive, 
and,  for  want  of  other  employment,  he  suffered  his 
fancy  to  picture  to  itself  a  diet  of  birds,  as  he  saw 
them  congregate  before  his  window,  much  as  he 
saw  persecuting  bishops  in  the  huntsmen  and 
hounds  while  engaged  in  the  chase  at  Wartburg. 
The  reader  will  easily  recognise  the  satire.  The 
sportive  letter  which  we  are  about  to  present  was 
addressed  to  his  table  companions  at  Wittenberg, 
and  reads  thus  :  "  Grace  and  peace  in  Christ,  dear 
friends.  I  have  received  your  joint  letter,  and 
learned  how  you  all  are.     That   you  may  know, 


484  LIFE   OF  LUTHER.  [1530. 

in  turn,  how  things  are  here,  I  give  you  to  under- 
stand that  Ave,  that  is,  I,  Master  Veit  Dietrich 
and  Cyriac,  do  not  go  to  the  Augsburg  diet,  though 
we  are  attending  another  one  in  this  place.    There 
is,  directly  before  my  window,  a  grove  where  the 
jackdaws  and  ravens  have  appointed  a  diet ;  and 
there  is  such  a  coming  and  going,  and  such  a  hub- 
bub, day  and  night,  that  you  would  think  them 
all  tipsy.     Old  and  young  keep  up  such  a  cack- 
ling, that  I  wonder  how  their  breath  holds  out  so 
long.     I  should  like  to  know  if  there  are  any  of 
these  nobles  and  knights  with  you,  for  it  seemeth 
to  me  that  all  in  the  world  are  gathered  together 
here.     I  have  not  yet  seen  their  emperor,  but  the 
nobles  and  great  ones  are  all  the  time  moving  and 
frisking  before  us ;  not  gayly  attired,  but  of  one 
uniform  colour,  all  black  and  all  gray-eyed.    They 
all  sing  the  same  song,  though  with  the  pleasing 
diversity  of  young  and  old,  great  and  small.    They 
pay  no  regard  to  the  great  palace  and  hall,  for 
their  hall  hath  the  high  blue  heavens  for  its  ceil- 
ing, the  ground  for  its  floor,  the  beautiful  green 
branches  for  its  panelling,  and  the  ends  of  the 
world  for  its  walls.     They  don't  trouble  themselves 
about  horses  and  wagons,  for  they  have  winged 
wheels   wherewith   they   escape   from   fire-arms. 
They  are  great  and  mighty  lords ;  but  to  what 
decisions  they  come  I  know  not.     But,  so  far  as 
I  can  learn  through  an  interpreter,  they  meditate 
a  mighty  crusade  against  wheat,  barley,  oats,  malt, 
and  all  kinds  of  corn  and  grain,  and  there  is  here 
many  a  hero,  who  will  perform  great  deeds.  ...  I 
consider  all  these  nothing  but  the  sophists  and 


M.  4C]  EXTRACTS   FROM   LETTERS.  485 

Papists,  with  their  preachers  and  secretaries,  and 
must  have  them  all  before  me  thus  at  once,  that  I 
may  hear  their  lovely  voices  and  their  preaching, 
and  see  how  useful  a  class  they  are,  to  devour  all 
that  the  earth  bringeth  forth,  and  cackle  for  it  a 
long  while." 

Perhaps  Luther  and  his  family  were  with  none 
more  intimate  than  with  the  family  of  Jonas.  The 
wife  of  this  friend  of  Luther  seems  to  have  been 
the  one  to  whom  all  domestic  anxieties  and  inte- 
rests were  freely  unbosomed  by  Luther  and  his 
household.  On  the  24th  of  April,  1530,  while  at 
Coburg,  midway  between  her,  at  Wittenberg,  and 
Jonas,  now  at  Augsburg,  he  wrote  to  her  as  fol- 
lows :  "  Dear  friend,  I  have  read  your  letter  to 
your  husband,  and  was  glad  to  learn  that  God 
hath  given  you  a  more  cheerful  mind  touching 
your  delicate  situation,  and  the  injury  which  has 
befallen  your  house.  Your  husband  is  not  so 
cheerful,  but  is  very  anxious  for  you,  and  is  quite 
angry  and  scoldeth  about  the  breaking  of  the  wall, 
and  is  as  near  to  being  offended  with  Mr.  Blank 
as  your  house  is  near  to  his.  But  be  not  troubled ; 
there  will  be  no  difficulty  about  the  house,  for  an 
arrangement  is  already  made  to  remedy  the  evil. 
.  .  .  You  will,  I  think,  be  blessed  with  a  daugh- 
ter, they  have  now  become  so  seldom  and  are  so 
shy,  a  single  house  not  being  large  enough  for 
them;  just  as  their  mothers  can  hardly  get  along 
with  a  husband  and  the  whole  world  besides.  Sa- 
lute your  dear  [son]  Justus,  the  grandmother,  and 
accept  a  salutation  for  yourself."  The  child  al- 
luded to  died  in  May,  while  the  father  was  still 

41* 


486  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1530. 

at  Augsburg.  The  following  letter  to  Melancthon 
on  the  occasion  explains  itself :  "  I  have  directed 
this  letter  to  be  delivered  to  you  separately,  for 
there  was  no  other  way  of  broaching  the  matter 
to  Justus  Jonas.  See  that  in  the  gentlest  way 
possible  he  be  informed  of  the  loss  of  his  infant 
child.  His  wife  and  servant  have  written  to  him 
that  the  child  is  ill,  but  in  language  removed  from 
all  ideas  of  death.  My  wife  write th  that  she  was 
present  when  it  died.  It  was  with  the  same  dis- 
ease that  carried  off  her  little  Frederic.  ...  I 
was  unwilling  to  write  to  him  about  it,  lest  his 
sorrow  should  be  too  great ;  and  I  wish  to  keep  it 
back  from  him,  and  write  him  another  time.  Per- 
haps this  is  the  hour  when  our  gospel  is  also  in 
child-birth ;  but  we  will,  when  the  sorrow  is  over, 
rejoice  that  a  man  is  born  into  the  world.  If  our 
word  is  true,  which  the  rage  and  fury  of  our  ene- 
mies sufficiently  declare,  our  cause  is  safe.  .  .  . 
Do  you,  therefore,  solace  the  man,  who  so  sinketh 
in  worldly  trouble,  that  he  may  be  able  to  rejoice 
while  we  are  sad."  A  few  days  later,  he  writes  a 
letter  of  condolence  to  Jonas,  full  of  tenderness, 
saying,  among  many  other  things,  "You  have 
many  great  blessings  to  set  over  against  this  ca- 
lamity," and  then  mentions  the  excellent  character 
of  his  wife. 

Luther's  engagements  and  state  of  mind  were 
such  that  he  Avas  disinclined  to  see  so  many  visit- 
ors as  were  constantly  calling  upon  him.  "  Yes- 
terday," says  he  to  Melancthon,  under  date  of 
June  2,  "John  Reineck  of  Mansfeld  [his  old  school 
companion  at  Magdeburg]  and  George  Homer  were 


M.  46.]  EXTRACTS   FROM   LETTERS.  487 

here ;  and  to-day  Argula  von  Staufen.  As  I  per- 
ceive that  this  place  will  be  too  much  frequented, 
I  am  determined,  after  the  manner  of  your  Stro- 
mer,  to  pretend  to  go  away,  or  actually  go  for  a 
single  day,  that  the  report  may  go  out  that  I  am 
no  longer  here.  Do  you  and  your  friends,  there- 
fore, tell  people  not  to  call  on  me  so  much.  I  wish 
to  be  secluded." 

Near  the  end  of  May,  Luther's  father  died.  With 
what  feelings  he  received  the  intelligence  we  may 
best  learn  from  his  own  words  in  a  letter  to  Melanc- 
thon  :  "  To-day,"  he  there  remarks,  "  John  Reineck 
hath  written  to  me  that  my  dearest  father  departed 
this  life,  Sunday,  the  29th  of  May.  This  death 
hath  plunged  me  into  deep  sorrow,  being  affected 
not  only  by  nature,  but  by  the  most  tender  love, 
for  through  him  my  Creator  gave  me  whatsoever 
I  am  and  have.  And  though  what  he  writeth  to 
me,  namely,  that  ■  strong  in  the  faith  of  Christ,  he 
sweetly  fell  asleep,'  nevertheless  my  sorrow  for  him 
and  the  memory  of  his  most  delicious  intercourse 
shake  my  whole  frame.  ...  I  now  succeed  next  in 
the  family  name,  and  am  the  senior  Luther  in  my 
family.  ...  It  is  right  and  fit  that  I,  a  son,  should 
mourn  for  such  a  father,  ...  by  whose  sweat  I 
was  supported  and  made  whatsoever  I  am.  I 
rejoice  that  he  lived  in  these  times,  when  he  could 
behold  the  light  of  truth." 

At  a  later  period  when,  for  four  days,  he  could, 
as  he  says,  neither  read  nor  write,  he  chanced  to 
find  a  mutilated  piece  of  music  in  three  parts,  in 
the  ditch.  He  corrected  and  altered  it,  added  a 
fourth  part,  and  composed  words  for  it,  and  sport- 


488  LIFE   OF  LUTHER.  [1530. 

ively  sent  it  to  his  friend,  Agricola,  to  show  to  his 
chorister  as  the  song  with  which  the  emperor  and 
his  brother  were  greeted  on  their  entrance  into 
Augsburg.  He  amused  himself  by  seeing  whether 
he  could  thus  mislead  the  chorister,  and,  to  make 
the  attempt  the  more  successful,  he  requested 
Agricola  to  praise  the  piece. 

During  Luther's  absence,  a  student  by  the  name 
of  Weller  became  private  tutor  to  his  son  John,  now 
four  years  old.  To  him  Luther  wrote,  June  19  : 
"  I  have  received  your  two  letters,  both  of  which 
are  very  agreeable,  but  the  last  by  far  the  most  so, 
because,  in  it,  you  write  concerning  my  John,  say- 
ing that  you  have  become  his  teacher,  and  that  he 
is  a  sedulous  and  diligent  pupil.  I  wish  I  could 
make  you  a  suitable  return,  but  what  I  cannot, 
may  Christ  repay.  Master  Dietrich  hath  signified 
to  me  that  you  have  a  spirit  of  melancholy,  which 
is  very  hurtful  to  a  young  man." 

If  we  consider  what  the  habits  of  our  fathers 
were,  as  compared  with  those  of  most  Christians 
of  the  present  day,  in  respect  to  temperance,  we 
shall  hardly  expect  to  find  Luther,  or  any  man  of 
that  age,  conforming  to  all  our  stricter  views  or 
practices  in  this  regard.  There  was  indeed  a 
society  formed  among  the  noblemen  of  Austria 
against  drunkenness  and  profane  swearing  in  the 
year  1517.  But  it  was  only  when  a  member  drank 
more  than  seven  glasses  of  wine  at  one  dinner  that 
he  was  regarded  as  a  transgressor,  and  was  then  to 
pay  the  fine  of  a  horse.  Luther  drank  wine  and  beer 
habitually,  but  with  moderation.  He,  at  one  time, 
apologizes  to  some  young  men  present  for  taking 


M.  46.]  EXTRACTS   FROM   LETTERS.  489 

wine  in  the  evening,  by  saying  that  old  men  some- 
times need  it  to  induce  sleep.  At  Coburg,  he  wrote, 
June  19,  to  a  friend  :  "I  am  well  and  live  splen- 
didly, save  that  I  have  for  a  month  had,  not  a  tink- 
ling, but  a  thundering  in  my  head,  whether  it  be 
from  the  wine,  or  whether  Satan  thus  playeth  his 
game  with  me.  I  have  finished  Ezekiel,  and  now 
shall  proceed  to  translate  the  other  Prophets.  Be 
diligent  both  you  and  the  church  in  praying  for  the 
elector.  Pray  for  him  and  for  the  whole  diet,  and 
be  assured  that  prayer  is  not  in  vain.  The  power 
thereof  is  manifest  and  great."  This  was  the  time 
that  tested  the  character  of  the  Elector  John,  and 
well  did  it  pass  the  ordeal.  An  expression  of 
Luther's,  the  following  January,  states  more  ex- 
plicitly one  cause  of  his  illness.  "The  Witten- 
berg beer,"  he  says,  "hath  not  yet  conquered  the 
disease  of  the  head  contracted  at  Coburg  by  the  old 
wine.  I  must  therefore  moderate  my  labours,  and 
give  my  head  its  Sabbaths,  a  great  evil  to  me  and 
to  the  printers."  lie  was  then  superintending  the 
printing  of  the  various  works  prepared  at  Coburg. 
Although  Luther  approved  of  Melancthon's  draft 
of  the  Augsburg  Confession,  and  said  of  it,  in  a 
letter  to  the  elector,  "It  pleaseth  me  exceedingly 
well.  I  know  not  what  improvement  or  change  to 
make,  nor  would  any  alteration  of  mine  be  in  place, 
for  I  cannot  step  so  softly  and  gently  ;"  yet  he  dis- 
approved of  Melancthon's  caution  and  prudence  as 
excessive.  Therefore  he  writes  to  Jonas,  (June 
20:)  "I  greatly  and  wonderfully  exult  in  the 
abundant  grace  of  God,  in  that  our  elector  is  of  so 
firm  and  calm  a  mind.     I  think  our  prayers  for  him 


490  LIFE    OF    LUTHER.  [1530. 

have  been  heard.  .  .  .  This  my  joy  is  increased  as  I 
learn  that  you  also  are  confident  in  God  against 
this  fury  of  Satan,  [the  violent  proceedings  of  the 
diet.]  Melancthon  is  swayed  by  his  philosophy, 
and  by  nothing  else;  for  he  will  have  the  whole 
matter  in  his  own  hand.  ...  I  would  not  have  it 
in  mine,  nor  would  it  be  best.  I  have  had  much 
in  my  own  hand,  and  lost  it  all,  and  saved  nothing. 
But  what  I  have  put  out  of  my  hands,  [and  into 
the  hand  of  the  Lord,]  that  have  I  secured  and 
saved.  ...  I  have  here  [in  Coburg]  become  a  new 
pupil  of  the  decalogue,  and  am  making  myself  a 
boy  again,  and  learning  it  by  heart.  ...  I  begin  to 
consider  the  decalogue  as  the  logic  of  the  gospel, 
and  the  gospel  as  the  rhetoric  of  the  decalogue ; 
and  Christ  as  having  all  that  is  in  Moses,  though 
Moses  hath  not  all  that  is  in  Christ."  To  Brentz, 
he  expressed  his  feelings  (June  30)  more  full}' 
in  regard  to  Melancthon's  over-much  solicitude. 
"  From  your  letters,  and  from  those  of  Melanc- 
thon and  others,  my  Brentz,"  he  observes,  "  I 
perceive  that  you  are  all  in  like  manner  troubled 
by  that  idolatrous  diet.  It  is  the  example  of 
Melancthon  that  so  affecteth  you.  For  he  is 
anxious  for  the  public  peace  and  tranquillity,  and 
that  piously  too ;  but  his  zeal  is  not  according  to 
knowledge.  Just  as  if  our  forefathers  by  their 
care  and  solicitude  made  us  what  we  are,  and  not 
rather  the  counsel  of  God  alone,  who  will  be 
Creator  after  us,  as  he  was  before  us.  He  will 
not  die  with  us,  or  cease  to  be  God,  governing 
the  thoughts  of  men.  .  .  .  These  things  I  write 
to  you  and  to  others  that,  by  the  persuasion  of 


M.  40.]  EXTRACTS   FROM   LETTERS.  491 

Br uck,  [Pontanus,]  or  some  other  one  of  you, 
Melancthon  may  cease  to  desire  to  be  ruler  of  the 
world,  that  is,  to  excruciate  himself.  If  I  should 
die,  or  be  slain  by  the  Papists,  I  shall  still  mightily 
defend  our  posterity,  and  be  revenged  upon  those 
ferocious  beasts  enough,  and  more  than  I  desire ; 
for  I  know  that  there  will  be  one  to  say,  '  Where 
is  thy  brother  Abel?'  and  he  will  make  them  fugi- 
tives in  the  earth.  .  .  .  If  there  is  a  God,  we  shall 
live  not  only  here,  but  where  he  liveth  also.  And 
if  this  is  so,  what,  I  ask,  are  all  these  furious 
threats  of  idols,  which  are  already,  not  barely 
mortal,  but  dead?  He  who  created  me  will  be 
the  father  of  my  son,  the  husband  of  my  wile, 
the  ruler  of  the  people,  the  preacher  of  the  parish, 
and  will  be,  after  I  am  dead,  more  and  better  than 
I  am  while  alive." 

.  The  important  and  yet  delicate  relations  which 
the  two  reformers,  Luther  and  Melancthon,  sus- 
tained to  each  other,  are  perhaps  nowhere  more 
apparent  than  in  the  letter  of  the  former  to  the 
latter,  written  June  29, 1530.  Neither  the  gentle 
influence  of  Melancthon  upon  Luther,  nor  the 
invigorating,  emboldening  influence  of  Luther 
upon  Melancthon,  could  safely  have  been  dis- 
pensed with.  But,  at  this  time,  unhappily,  both 
were  in  a  state  of  nervous  excitement  and  irrita- 
bility. 

"I  have  read  your  rhetoric,"  says  Luther,  "by 
which  you  excuse  your  silence  to  me.  In  the 
iiii.iii  time,  I  have  written  to  you  twice,  explain- 
ing the  cause  of  my  silence.  To-day  I  have  re- 
ceived your  last  letter,  in  which  you  admonish  me 


492  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1530. 

of  your  labours,  perils  and  tears,  so  that  I  seem 
unworthily  to  add  sorrow  to  sorrow  by  my  silence, 
as  if  I  were  ignorant  of  these  things,  or  were  sit- 
ting here  upon  a  bed  of  roses,  not  bearing  your 
cares  with  you.  Unless  your  letter  had  reached 
me  last  night,  ...  I  should  have  sent  you  a  mes- 
senger at  my  own  expense.  ...  I  have  received 
your  Apology,  [the  Augsburg  Confession,]  and 
wonder  what  you  wish  or  desire, — what  and  how 
much  is  to  be  conceded  to  the  Papists.  How 
much  is  to  be  yielded  to  the  elector,  if  he  is  in 
danger,  is  another  question.  For  myself,  more 
than  enough  is  already  conceded  in  the  Apology ; 
and  if  they  refuse  this,  I  see  not  how  any  thing 
more  can  be  conceded,  unless  I  can  see  better  rea- 
sons and  clearer  passages  of  Scripture  than  I  have 
yet  seen.  I  am  occupied  with  this  subject  day 
and  night,  thinking,  revolving,  reasoning  and  sur- 
veying the  whole  Bible,  and  my  assurance  in  our 
doctrine  increaseth,  and  I  am  more  and  more  con- 
firmed, so  that,  God  helping  me,  I  will  suffer 
nothing  more  to  be  taken  from  it,  come  what  may. 
...  I  am  not  pleased  with  your  saying  in  your 
letter,  that  you  'follow  my  authority.'  I  do  not 
wish  to  be,  or  to  be  called  an  authority  in  this 
cause ;  and  even  if  it  could  be  so  explained,  I  do 
not  like  the  term.  If  it  be  not,  at  the  same  time, 
equally  your  cause,  I  am  unwilling  it  should  be 
said  to  be  mine  and  imposed  upon  you.  If  it  be 
mine,  I  will  act  for  myself.  ...  It  is  the  result 
anil  issue  of  this  cause  that  troubleth  you,  because 
you  cannot  grasp  it.  If  you  could  grasp  it,  I 
would  have  nothing  to  do  with  it,  much  less  be 


M.  46.]  EXTRACTS   FROM   LETTERS.  493 

the  author  of  it.  God  hath  put  it  into  that  chap- 
ter which  is  not  included  in  your  rhetoric  nor 
philosophy.  That  chapter  is  called  faith,  in  which 
are  placed  all  those  things  'which  are  not  seen 
and  do  not  appear ;'  and  if  an}r  one  attempt  to 
render  them  visible,  apparent  and  comprehensible, 
as  you  do,  he  will  have  troubles  and  tears  as  the 
reward  of  his  labour,  such  as  you  now  complain 
of,  notwithstanding  all  our  persuasions. 

"Postscript.  After  closing  my  letter,  the  thought 
hath  occurred  to  me,  that  I  might  seem  to  you  not 
to  have  replied  specifically  to  your  inquiries,  how 
much  and  how  far  we  should  concede  to  our  oppo- 
nents. But  your  inquiries  are  general;  you  do  not 
signify  what  and  how  much  you  think  will  be  de- 
manded of  us.  I  am  ready,  as  I  have  always  said, 
to  concede  every  thing,  if  only  the  gospel  be  left 
free  unto  us.  But  any  thing  repugnant  to  the 
gospel,  I  cannot  concede." 

He  also  said,  "  I  wish  I  could  be  allowed  to 
come  to  you ;  I  burn  with  desire  to  come  unbidden 
and  uninvited."  The  elector  knew  why  he  would 
have  Luther  not  so  far  from  the  diet  as  Witten- 
berg, nor  so  near  as  Augsburg. 

The  first  paragraph  of  the  above  letter  is  well 
interpreted  by  another,  written  in  a  more  playful 
mood,  the  day  after,  to  Spalatin.  Five  long  letters 
to  his  friends  at  Augsburg,  to  Brentz,  to  Spalatin, 
to  Agricola,  to  Mclancthon  and  to  the  elector,  bear 
date  June  30.  To  Spalatin  he  writes:  "  You  said 
you  would  not  suffer  yourself  to  be  called  dilatory 
in  correspondence,  and  yet  you  arc  obliged  to  do 
so.     You  promised  me  and  the  Wittenberg  friends 

42 


494  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1530. 

that  }rou  would  write  abundantly  by  the  messenger 
of  Jonas  and  of  Dr.  Apel,  so  that  we  might  both 
expect  and  fear  a  whole  forest  of  letters,  which 
should  be  more  obstreperous  than  my  jackdaws. 
But  when  the  messenger  came,  bringing  letters 
from  Jonas  alone  for  Wittenberg,  I  said,  '  Do  you 
bring  any  letters  for  me  ?'  Reply,  *  No.'  '  How 
is  it  with  the  men  there  ?'  Answer,  '  Well.'  Of 
this  case  I  have  just  made  complaint  to  Melanc- 
thon.  Afterward  came  a  messenger  on  horseback, 
sent  to  Torgau,  with  letters  from  the  elector.  I 
asked  him,  '  Do  you  bring  any  letters  for  me  ?' 
Reply,  'No.'  'How  is  it  with  the  men  there?' 
Reply,  'Well.'  Then,  when  a  wagon  was  going 
to  Augsburg  with  flour,  I  WTote  again  to  Melanc- 
thon,  and  that  returned  bringing  no  letters.  Now 
I  began  to  have  gloomy  thoughts,  and  to  suspect 
you  wished  to  conceal  something  from  me.  A 
fourth  person  came.  I  asked  him,  'Do  you  bring 
me  any  letters  ?'  Reply,  '  No.'  '  How  is  it  with 
the  men  there?'  Answer,  'Well.'  I  will  not  tell 
you  how  often  our  questor  has,  in  the  mean  time, 
had  letters  from  his  brother  Falkenstein,  while  we 
have  been  kept  for  more  than  three  weeks  hunger- 
ing and  thirsting  by  the  favour  of  your  silence. 
From  his  letters  have  I  been  obliged  to  learn  what 
I  would  know.  Now  I  ask  if  you  would  not  call 
me  a  dilatory  correspondent,  if  I  were  to  do  so 
to  you.  I  confess  I  was  offended  and  alarmed, 
knowing,  as  I  did,  the  anxiety  of  Melancthon 
and  the  trials  of  the  elector.  .  .  .  But  enough 
of  this.  Do  not  dispute,  nor  think  any  more 
about  it." 


JE.  4C]  EXTRACTS   FROM   LETTERS.  495 

If  we  desire  still  more  light  on  this  temporary 
ruffling  of  the  feelings  of  the  two  reformers,  it 
can  be  found  in  the  letters  of  Melancthon  and 
others.  On  the  25th  of  June,  he  wrote  to  Lu- 
ther :  "  The  letter  in  which  you  complain  of  my 
silence  giveth  me  great  pain.  I  have  written  very 
fully  every  week.  I  know  not  how  it  happeneth 
that  this  evil  should  be  added  to  the  great  and 
distressing  cares  which  I  have  in  this  place, 
namely,  that  I  should  be  judged  so  much  in 
fault  that  you  will  not  write  to  me."  The  next 
day,  he  wrote  to  Veit  Dietrich,  [Vitus  Theodo- 
ras :]  "  I  cannot  express  how  much  it  distresseth 
me  that,  in  your  letter,  you  say  the  doctor  is  so 
angry  with  me  that  he  will  not  even  read  my  let- 
ters. You  know  how  I  am  situated,  and  in  what 
peril  we  all  stand.  We  here  are  in  greatest  need 
of  his  counsel  and  consolation.  I  have,  therefore, 
hired  a  special  messenger  to  take  this  letter,  that 
I  may  appease  him  and  make  some  inquiries.  I 
have  left  it  unsealed,  in  order  that  you  may  read 
it  and  repeat  it  to  him,  if  he  will  not  read  it." 
The  letter  to  Luther  commences  thus  :  "  I  am  here 
in  a  wretched  state  of  anxiety  and  in  perpetual 
tears.  Besides  this,  a  strange  consternation  hath 
to-day  seized  my  mind  on  reading  Dietrich's  let- 
ter, in  which  he  saith  you  are  so  angry,  &c.  .  .  . 
I  will  not,  my  father,  exaggerate  my  sorrow  to 
you;  but  I  beg  you  to  consider  what  is  my  con- 
dition, and  wh.it  are  my  perils,  where  I  have  no 
solace  but  in  your  consolations.  Every  day  tin4 
sophists  and  monks  are  flocking  to  the  emperor  to 
imbitter  him  against  me.      The  bishops  already 


496  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1530. 

hate  me.  Friends,  if  I  ever  had  any,  are  now 
away.  Alone  and  deserted,  I  am  here  struggling 
with  great  dangers.  I  entreat  you  to  consider 
either  me,  who  follow  your  authority  in  the  most 
important  matters,  or  the  public,  and  not  refuse  to 
read  my  letters  and  reply,  both  that  you  may 
govern  my  conduct  and  comfort  me."  Osiander 
wrote  to  his  Niiremburg  friends,  July  4,  saying, 
among  other  things  :  "  Melancthon,  worn  out  and 
exhausted  with  many  labours,  vigils  and  cares,  is 
sometimes  troubled  with  melancholy  and  almost 
desperation,  without  any  good  reason,  which 
greatly  dejecteth  most  of  our  party.  I  soon 
perceived,  and  learned  from  others,  that  he  hath 
a  natural  inclination  to  melancholy.  In  such  a 
state  of  mind  he  thinketh,  speaketh,  writeth  and 
acteth,  which  cloth  not  help  our  cause,  so  that  he 
must  be  watched  and  chicled,  that  he  do  nothing 
which  will  make  us  all  repent.  Luther,  knowing 
this,  took  occasion  to  write  pungently  to  him, 
and  to  exhort  others  to  chide  him."  Melancthon 
thanks  Luther,  July  8,  for  answering  his  letters, 
and  from  that  time  the  current  of  good  feeling 
flows  clear  again. 

Luther  had  just  finished  his  commentary  on 
the  118th  Psalm,  which  he  dedicated  to  Frederic, 
abbot  at  Niiremburg,  of  whom  mention  has  been 
already  made.  In  the  dedicatory  epistle,  dated 
July  1,  he  says :  "Venerable  and  dear  friend  and 
patron,  I  have  desired  to  manifest  my  gratitude 
for  your  love  and  favour;  but,  in  worldly  estate,  I 
am  a  poor  beggar;  and  had  I  ever  so  much,  your 
condition  is  such  that  I  could  effect  but  little,     i 


IE.  46.]  EXTRACTS   FROM    LETTERS.  497 

have,  therefore,  turned  to  my  wealth,  my  treasure, 
and  taken  from  it  my  favourite  psalm.  I  have  put 
my  thoughts  upon  it  on  paper,  because  I  had  so 
much  leisure  here  in  my  desert,  and  because  I 
wished,  at  times,  to  rest  and  relieve  my  mind 
from  severer  labours,  namely,  the  complete  trans- 
lation of  the  Prophets,  which  I  hope  soon  to  finish. 
These  thoughts  of  mine  I  have  desired  to  dedicate 
and  present  to  you,  having  nothing  better  to  give. 
Though  some  may  regard  it  a  profuse  and,  per- 
haps, useless  expectoration,  yet  I  am  sure  it  con- 
taineth  nothing  evil  or  unchristian.  For  it  is  my 
psalm,  the  one  I  love.  Though  all  the  psalms 
and  the  whole  Bible  are  very  dear  to  me,  as  my 
only  consolation  and  life,  still  I  am  wonderfully 
attached  to  this  psalm,  so  that  I  may  call  it  mine. 
For  it  hath  often  done  me  great  service,  and 
helped  me  out  of  many  sore  troubles,  when 
neither  emperors,  kings,  sages,  nor  saints  could 
have  helped  me.  I  value  it  more  than  I  should 
the  favour,  wealth  and  power  of  the  pope,  the 
Turks,  the  emperor  and  all  the  world;  and  I 
would  not  exchange  this  psalm  for  them  all  to- 
gether." 

To  Spongier  he  thus  decribes  the  device  which 
he  had  decided  to  have  for  his  seal  :  "  First,  a 
black  cross  in  a  heart  of  a  natural  colour,  to  re- 
mind me  that  faith  in  him  who  died  on  the  cross 
saveth  us.  .  .  .  Though  the  cross  is  black,  morti- 
fietli  :ni(l  giveth  pain,  still  it  leaveth  the  heart  in 
its  own  colour,  doth  not  destroy  nature,  doth  not 
kill,  but  maketh  alive.  .  .  .  Such  a  heart  is  enve- 
loped in  a  white  rose,  to  show  that  faith  giveth 

42* 


498  LIFE    OF    LUTHER.  [1530. 

joy,  comfort  and  peace.  It  is  set  in  a  white  rose, 
and  not  a  red  one,  because  it  giveth  peace  and 
joy  not  as  the  world  giveth.  .  .  .  This  rose  is  placed 
in  an  azure  field,  to  signify  that  such  spiritual  joy 
is  the  beginning  of  future  heavenly  joy,  already 
apprehended  and  included  in  hope,  but  not  yet 
manifest.  In  the  azure  field  is  a  gold  ring,  to  sig- 
nify that  the  bliss  of  heaven  is  everlasting,  and 
the  most  precious  of  all  possessions,  as  gold  is  the 
most  precious  metal." 

Section  II. — From  the  Diet  of  Augsburg  in  1530  to  Luther's 
Death  in  1546. 

The  purpose  for  which  the  emperor  had  sum- 
moned the  diet  was  not  answered.  On  his  part, 
there  was  to  be  seen  nothing  of  that  clemency 
mentioned  in  his  summons,  but,  on  the  contrary,  a 
close  adhesion  to  the  papal  party,  and  a  menacing 
severity  toward  the  Protestants,  and  most  of  all 
toward  the  Elector  of  Saxony.  But  the  latter, 
together  with  Philip,  Landgrave  of  Hesse,  mani- 
fested a  firmness  and  courage  superior  to  all  such 
intimidations.  Indeed,  the  excessive  Ariolence  of 
the  emperor  and  the  severity  of  the  decision  of 
the  diet,  both  bound  the  Protestant  princes  more 
closely  together,  and  provoked  an  opposition, 
which,  when  organized  at  successive  conventions 
at  Smalcald,  became  too  powerful  to  be  despised, 
and  the  emperor,  at  last,  saw  the  necessity  of 
coming  to  an  agreement  with  them.  At  the  Nu- 
remberg pacification,  in  1532,  articles  were  agreed 
upon  and  signed  by  both  parties. 

The  course  pursued  by  Luther  during  this  busy 


M.  47-C3.]  WANT   OF   CHARITY.  499 

period  of  two  years,  in  which  he  was  consulted  in 
respect  to  all  the  public  measures  adopted  by  the 
Protestant  statesmen,  was  somewhat  peculiar,  pre- 
senting a  singular  compound  of  opinionated  per- 
tinacity and  of  submissive  compliance.  In  his 
uncharitableness  toward  the  Zwinglian  party,  he 
persisted  so  far  as  to  exclude  them  from  any  parti- 
cipation in  the  Protestant  cause,  neither  admitting 
them  as  associates  at  Augsburg,  nor  as  members 
of  the  Smalcald  confederacy  for  mutual  protection 
and  defence.  The  Landgrave  Philip,  who  s}^mpa- 
thized  with  Zwingle  in  his  view,  exhausted  all  his 
influence  upon  Luther,  in  endeavouring  to  persuade 
him  that  the  differences  of  opinion  which  prevailed 
respecting  the  Lord's  supper  were  not  so  funda- 
mental as  to  require  the  utter  rejection  of  the 
Swiss  churches.  But  it  was  all  in  vain.  Luther's 
pious  abhorrence  of  their  doctrines  was  as  deeply 
and  as  immovably  fixed  in  his  mind  as  was  that 
against  the  Anabaptists.  On  the  other  hand,  he 
maintained  that  the  Protestant  rulers  had  no  right 
to  combine  together  for  mutual  defence,  if  the 
emperor  should  make  war  upon  them  for  their 
religion.  When  the  Saxon  jurists  decided,  that, 
according  to  the  constitutional  principles  of  the 
empire,  the  electors  and  other  princes  had,  clearly, 
the  right  to  protect  themselves  against  the  illegal 
encroachments  of  the  emperor,  Luther  merely  ad- 
mitted that  it  might  be  so  according  to  the  civil 
law ;  but  adhered  to  his  original  opinion  in  a  theo- 
logical point  of  view.  But  what  is  still  more 
strange,  he  resisted  nearly  all  the  statesmen  of 
his  own  party,  who  insisted,  that,  not  only  those 


500  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1530-1546. 

who  had  already  embraced  the  Protestant  doc- 
trines, but  those  who  should  hereafter  embrace 
them,  ought  to  have  their  rights  secured  in  the 
articles  of  pacification  with  the  emperor.  Luther 
said  it  was  but  reasonable  that  the  emperor  should 
insist  on  excluding  the  latter  from  the  benefits  of 
the  articles  of  agreement.  If  men  will  not  come 
out  and  show  themselves  openly  in  times  of  dan- 
ger, they  are  not  entitled,  he  maintained,  to  the 
quiet  and  security  acquired  by  others  at  their 
peril,  and  so  he  prevailed  against  the  landgrave, 
who  maintained  the  contrary.  However  great  we 
may  admit  the  urgency  to  have  been,  to  secure  a 
peace  with  the  emperor  and  to  avoid  a  religious 
war,  the  principle  here  avowed  by  Luther  savours 
little  of  that  brotherly  love  which  is  an  essential 
part  of  true  religion. 

The  emperor  was  obliged  to  be  often  absent 
from  Germany,  in  order  to  attend  to  his  affairs  in 
Spain  and  Italy.  As  he  had  taken  decided  ground 
against  the  Protestants,  and  as  the  dukes  of  Ba- 
varia were  jealous  of  the  house  of  Austria,  it 
seemed  necessary  for  the  emperor  to  have  some 
one  on  whom  he  could  rely  to  protect  his  interests 
in  Germany  during  his  absence.  The  Elector  of 
Saxony  was,  properly,  the  vicar  of  the  empire ; 
but  he  was  the  leader  of  the  Protestants,  and  a 
league  between  them  and  the  disaffected  Catholic 
dukes  of  Bavaria  might  endanger  the  emperor's 
interests.  Charles  decided  to  secure  the  corona- 
tion of  his  brother  Ferdinand  as  King  of  Rome, 
the  effect  of  which  would  be  to  make  him  suc- 
cessor to  the  imperial  throne,  thus  establishing  his 


.'.:.   17-03.]  WANT   OF   CHARITY.  501 

own  family  in  power,  and  excluding  the  rival  Ba- 
varian family;  and  also  to  place  the  government 
of  Germany  in  Ferdinand's  hands,  whenever  he 
himself  should  have  occasion  to  be  absent.  Lu- 
ther, with  less  wisdom  and  less  knowledge  of 
political  affairs  than  the  advisers  of  the  elector, 
advocated  the  propriety  of  yielding  this  point  to 
the  emperor,  greatly  to  the  grief  of  the  elector. 

The  latter  part  of  Luther's  life  is  not  suscepti- 
ble of  the  same  treatment  as  the  former.  It  has 
less  unity,  and  must  either  be  presented  without 
a  very  consecutive  chain  of  events,  or  must  be 
spread  out  into  a  general  history  of  the  times  so 
widely  as  to  lose  the  character  of  a  biography. 
The  choice  between  the  two  courses  cannot,  in  the 
present  work,  be  doubtful.  Leaving,  therefore, 
the  tenor  of  general  history,  we  revert  to  the 
narrative  of  events  of  a  more  personal  character. 

The  irregular  and  harsh  proceedings  of  the 
magistrates  of  Zwickau,  in  relation  to  the  clergy 
of  the  place,  were  doubly  wounding  to  Luther's 
feelings.  lie  was  grieved  that  such  an  example 
should  be  set  to  the  newly-organized  churches ; 
and  he  almost  regarded  it  as  a  personal  injury 
that  the  pastor,  Ilausmann,  his  confidential  friend, 
should  be  treated  with  such  indignity,  lie,  there- 
fore, used  his  influence  with  the  elector  in  favour 
of  Bausmann's  removal  from  "the  beastly  inhabit- 
ants of  Zwickau"  to  a  people  of  a  more  congenial 
spirit  ;  and  the  result  was.  the  settlement  of  his 
friend  in  Dessau,  where  he  enjoyed  the  confidence 
of  the  princes  of  Anhalt. 

In  the  same  year,  that  is  in  1531,  Luther  was 


502  LIFE   OF    LUTHER.  [1530-1546. 

afflicted  by  the  death  of  his  mother.  He  was 
not  able  to  visit  her  in  her  last  illness,  but  wrote 
her  an  affectionate  letter  to  confirm  her  faith  and 
to  prepare  her  mind  for  the  event  that  was  near 
at  hand,  and  closed  by  saying,  "All  the  children 
and  my  Katy  pray  for  you.  Some  of  them  weep, 
and  some  eat  and  say, i  Grandmother  is  very  sick.' 
The  grace  of  God  be  with  us  all." 

The  next  year  was  made  one  of  sadness  to  Lu- 
ther by  the  death  of  the  Elector  John,  surname d 
the  Constant.  He  went  to  Schweinitz,  a  summer 
residence  a  few  miles  to  the  east  of  Wittenberg, 
for  the  purpose  of  indulging  in  the  chase,  and  was 
taken  suddenly  ill.  Luther,  Melancthon  and  Schurf 
arrived  a  short  time  before  his  death.  "Alas  !" 
said  Luther,  "  how  a  great  prince  dieth  here  alone, 
without  the  presence  of  a  son,  relative,  or  friend 
to  witness  his  departure !  The  physicians  say  he 
died  of  the  cramp.  Just  as  children  are  born  without 
sorrow,  live  without  sorrow,  and  die  without  sorrow, 
so  will  our  dear  prince,  at  the  last  day,  come  to 
himself,  as  if  fresh  from  the  chase  in  the  Lochau 
Forest,  and  will  not  be  conscious  of  what  happened 
to  him."  His  son,  John  Frederic,  then  in  his 
twenty-ninth  year,  succeeded  him.  Though  a  firm 
and  faithful  friend  of  the  Reformation,  and  al- 
ready conversant  with  public  affairs,  he  had  not 
the  high  qualities  of  wisdom  and  firmness  which 
characterized  his  predecessors,  Frederic  and  John. 

Many  of  Luther's  letters,  written  about  this 
period,  were  letters  of  consolation  to  the  afflicted, 
the  tempted  and  the  persecuted,  or  of  warning  to 
rulers  and  magistrates  against  disturbers  of  the 


M.  47-63.]    GENERAL  COUNCIL  PROPOSED.        503 

public  peace,  particularly  the  Anabaptists,  who 
wore  beginning,  at  Minister  and  other  places,  to 
lift  their  heads  again.  In  1533  and  1534,  he  was 
employed  in  preparing  a  new  edition  of  his  hymns, 
in  completing  his  translation  of  the  Bible,  in  com- 
forting and  aiding  Christians  who  had  been  ba- 
nished from  Leipsic  by  Duke  George,  and  in  other 
labours  of  piety  and  charity. 

Luther,  from  the  beginning  of  his  public  career 
as  a  reformer,  had  always  desired  and  demanded 
that  a  general  and  free  council  of  the  church  should 
be  held,  before  which  both  religious  parties  might 
bring  their  complaints  for  adjudication.  The  Ger- 
man diets  had  joined  with  Luther  in  this  request, 
and  even  the  emperor  promised  that  such  a  coun- 
cil should  be  held.  But  the  Roman  pontiffs  had 
opposed  the  project,  or,  if  they  seemed  to  yield, 
they  required  that  it  be  held  in  Italy,  be  consti- 
tuted and  organized  by  the  pope,  and,  moreover, 
that  it  decide  the  questions  submitted  to  it  by  the 
traditions  and  usages  of  the  church.  The  Pro- 
testants, on  the  contrary,  demanded  that  the 
council  should  be  held  in  Germany,  where  the 
troubles  existed ;  that  it  should  not  be  subject  to 
the  authority  of  the  pope,  but  that  he,  as  one  of 
the  parties,  should  be  subject  to  the  authority  of 
the  council ;  and  that  its  decisions  should  be 
formed,  not  according  to  human  traditions,  but 
according  to  the  word  of  God.  Charles  V.,  on  his 
way  to  Spain  in  1532,  had  an  interview  with  the 
pope,  Clement  VII.,  on  the  subject,  in  consequence 
of  which  a  papal  ambassador  and  an  imperial  orator 
appeared  with  the  proposal  before  the  elector  at 


504  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1530-1546. 

Weimar,  but  were  referred  by  him  to  the  assem- 
bly of  Protestant  princes  to  be  held  the  year  fol- 
lowing at  Smaleald.  At  that  meeting  they  received 
answer,  as  stated  above,  that  the  council  must  be 
held  in  Germany,  that  the  pope  must  not  be  both 
party  and  judge,  and  that  the  Scriptures,  and  not 
human  opinions,  must  be  ultimate  authority. 

Two  years  later,  in  1535,  the  project  was  re- 
newed by  Paul  III.,  Clement's  successor,  and  the 
elector  asked  the  opinion  of  Luther  whether  any 
other  answer  should  be  given  to  the  pope  than 
that  given  before.  Luther  replied  that  he  believed 
the  whole  matter  to  be  a  mere  feint,  and  there- 
fore was  not  disposed  to  trouble  himself  about  the 
conditions.  Luther  had  good  reasons  for  such  an 
opinion,  for  the  previous  proposal  for  a  council  on 
the  part  of  the  pope  was  undoubtedly  made  for 
no  other  purpose  than  that  of  preventing  a  Ger- 
man diet  which,  he  feared,  would  meet  to  act  on 
the  same  subject,  at  that  unfavourable  time,  when 
the  Protestant  power  was  strong.  The  papal  le- 
gate, Vergerio,  came,  in  this  instance,  to  Witten- 
berg, to  hold  an  interview  with  Luther  himself, 
and  the  morning  after  his  arrival  invited  Luther 
and  Buge nhagen  to  breakfast.  Early  in  the  morn- 
ing, Luther  sent  for  a  barber  to  prepare  him  for 
the  occasion,  who,  when  he  had  come,  said,  "  How 
is  it  that  you  wish  to  be  shaved  so  early  ?"  "  I 
am  to  go,"  replied  Luther,  "  to  the  legate  of  his 
holiness  the  pope,  and  I  must  adorn  myself,  so  as 
to  appear  young ;  and  the  legate  will  then  say  to 
himself,  '  Zounds  !  is  Luther  so  young,  and  yet 
hath  done  so  much  mischief  ?     What  then  will  he 


JE.  47-G3.]      INTERVIEW  WITH  THE  LEGATE.  505 

yet  do  ?' '  When  his  head  was  dressed,  he  put 
on  his  best  clothes,  and  laid  his  jewel,  set  in  gold, 
around  his  neck.  The  barber  said  to  him,  "  Doc- 
tor, that  will  be  offensive  to  them."  "  For  that 
reason  I  do  it,"  said  Luther ;  "  they  have  con- 
ducted offensively  enough  toward  us ;  and  we 
must  manage  in  this  way  with  those  serpents  and 
foxes."  "  Go,  then,  doctor,"  said  the  barber,  "in 
God's  name,  and  the  Lord  be  with  you,  that  you 
may  convert  them."  "  That,"  said  the  doctor,  "  1 
shall  not  do  ;  but  it  may  be  that  I  shall  read  them 
a  good  lesson,  and  let  them  go."  He  then  mounted 
the  carriage  with  Bugenhagen  and  drove  off  to 
the  castle,  to  the  legate.  On  the  way,  he  smiled 
and  said  to  his  companion,  "  Here  go  the  German 
pope  and  Cardinal  Bugenhagen ;  these  are  God's 
instruments  and  artillery." 

On  arriving  at  the  place,  he  was  announced  and 
immediately  admitted  and  kindly  received,  and  he 
greeted  the  legate  in  turn,  but  not  with  the  high- 
sounding  titles  which  were  formerly  used  on  such 
occasions.  They  soon  began  to  speak  of  a  council, 
and  Luther  said,  "  You  are  not  in  earnest  about 
holding  a  council ;  it  is  only  a  trick ;  and  if  you 
were  to  hold  one,  it  would  concern  itself  only  about 
cowls,  shorn  heads,  meats,  drinks,  and  such-like 
foolish  things,  and  others  still  more  useless,  which 
we  know,  at  the  outset,  to  be  nothing.  But  of  faith 
and  justification  and  other  useful  and  weighty  mat- 
ters, such  as  how  believers  may  be  united  in  spirit 
and  in  faith,  you  do  not  wish  to  confer,  nor  would 
it  be  for  your  interest.  .  .  .  But  if  you  desire  to 
have  a  council,  very  well :  have  one,  and  I  will 

43 


50G  LIFE   OF   LUTIIEll.  [1530-1540. 

come,  though  I  should  know  you  would  burn  me  at 
the  stake."  "Where?"  answered  the  legate.  "In 
what  city  will  3rou  have  the  council  ?"  "  Where  you 
please,"  was  the  answer,  "  at  Mantua,  or  Padua,  or 
Florence,  or  wheresoever  you  please."  "  Will  you 
come  to  Bologna?"  said  the  legate.  "To  whom 
does  that  place  belong  ?"  inquired  Luther.  "  To 
the  pope."  "  Gracious  Lord,  hath  the  pope  got 
his  clutches  on  this  city,  too  !  Well,  I  will  come," 
said  Luther.  The  legate  added,  "  The  pope  would 
not  refuse  to  come  to  you  at  WTittenberg."  "  Well, 
then,"  said  Luther,  "  let  him  come ;  we  should 
like  to  see  him."  "  How  would  you  like  to  see 
him,"  replied  the  legate,  "  with  an  army  or  with- 
out ?"  "  Just  as  best  pleaseth  him,"  said  Luther  ; 
"  we  will  be  ready  for  either."  Then  the  legate 
asked,  "  Do  you  consecrate  priests  ?"  "  To  be 
sure,"  said  Luther,  "for  the  pope  will  not  con- 
secrate or  ordain  any  for  us.  Here  you  see  a 
bishop,  (pointing  to  Bugenhagen,)  whom  we  have 
consecrated."  After  the  interview  was  over,  and 
when  the  legate  was  seated  upon  his  horse,  he  said 
to  Luther,  "  See  that  you  are  prepared  for  the 
council."  Luther  replied,  "  I  will  come,  sir,  with 
this  neck  of  mine." 

Through  the  influence  of  the  Landgrave  of  Hesse 
and  Bucer,  who  were  extremely  desirous  for  the 
union  of  the  two  Protestant  parties,  efforts  were 
made  in  1534, 1535,  and  1536,  to  agree  upon  arti- 
cles of  concord  relating  to  the  eucharist.  The 
cities  of  Strasburg,  Augsburg,  Ulm,  and  Esslingen 
in  particular,  which  were  situated  in  the  south- 
west of  Germany,  along  the  borders,  between  the 


M.  47-G3.]  CONVENTION  AT   SMALCALD.  507 

Lutheran  influence  on  the  one  side,  and  the  Zwing- 
lian  on  the  other,  were  inclined  to  the  extreme 
views  of  neither  party,  and  were  anxious  that  both 
should  agree  on  some  common  intermediate  ground. 
A  convention  was  finally  held  at  Wittenberg,  May, 
1536,  for  the  purpose;  and  Luther  succeeded  in 
bringing  the  Upper  Germans,  as  they  were  called, 
to  subscribe  to  his  views. 

Toward  the  close  of  the  year  1536,  as  the  pope 
had  proposed  to  the  Protestants  to  hold  a  general 
council,  the  theologians  of  Wittenberg  were  di- 
rected by  the  elector  to  draw  up  articles  in  respect 
to  it,  which  might  be  presented  to  the  convention 
about  to  be  held  on  that  subject  at  Smalcald.  This 
is  the  origin  of  the  Smalcald  Articles.  Luther, 
Melancthon,  Bugenhagen  and  others  from  Witten- 
berg attended  this  convention,  which  resulted  in  a 
refusal  on  the  part  of  the  Protestants  to  partici- 
pate in  the  council.  Luther  and  his  companions, 
who  went  by  the  way  of  Grimma,  Altenburg  and 
Weimar,  arrived  at  Smalcald,  near  the  south-west- 
ern border  of  Saxony,  the  7th  of  January,  1537. 
The  first  week  he  had  little  to  do,  and  complained 
that  business  proceeded  so  slowly.  The  second, 
he  suffered  so  severely  from  the  stone  that  he  did 
not  expect  to  live  to  return  home.  The  elector, 
Melancthon,  Spalatin  and  Myconius  were  often  at 
his  bed-side.  The  elector  said  to  him  :  "  If,  con- 
trary to  our  hopes,  it  be  the  will  of  God  to  take 
you  from  us,  be  not  concerned  about  your  wife  and 
children,  for  they  shall  be  my  wife  and  children." 
Getting  no  relief  for  more  than  a  week,  he  decided 
to  be  removed  from  Smalcald,  as  medicines  could 


508  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1530-1546. 

not  be  procured  there.  At  Tanibach,  he  experi- 
enced relief;  but  while  at  Gotha,  he  had  a  return 
of  his  excruciating  pains,  and  six  stones,  one  of 
nearly  the  size  of  a  bean,  passed  from  him.  He 
was  able  to  proceed  to  Erfurt,  and  then,  after  a 
pause,  to  Weimar.  At  Altenburg,  he  stopped  at 
the  house  of  Spalatin.  Melancthon  wrote  after- 
ward from  Grimma  that  Luther  had  some  rest  and 
could  take  a  little  food ;  and,  after  a  little  more 
than  two  weeks  from  the  time  of  leaving  Smalcald, 
he  reached  home  in  extreme  weakness. 

The  following  year  was  imbittered  by  one  of  the 
severest  trials  which  Luther  had  been  called  to 
endure.  Agricola,  of  Eisleben,  one  of  his  dearest 
and  most  confidential  friends,  led  on,  perhaps,  by 
some  of  Luther's  unguarded  and  unadvised  expres- 
sions, became  an  avoAved  Antinominan,  and  main- 
tained that  Christians  had  nothing  to  do  with  the 
law  of  God,  but  were  to  concern  themselves  simply 
with  Christ  crucified.  The  enemies  of  Luther  re- 
joiced in  this  new  schism,  and  maintained  that  it 
was  the  legitimate  fruit  of  his  doctrines.  He 
wrote  six  elaborate  disputations  in  the  course  of 
four  years  to  disprove  the  positions  of  Agricola, 
and  took  from  him  the  license  to  preach  which  he 
had  formerly  given  him. 

For  twenty  years,  ever  since  the  Leipsic  Dis- 
putation in  1519,  Duke  George  had  been  among 
the  bitterest  of  Luther's  enemies.  He  imprisoned 
and  put  to  death  Luther's  followers,  and  at  one 
time  banished  eight  hundred  souls  from  Leipsic. 
But,  connected  as  his  territories  were  with  those 
of  the  elector,  it  was  impossible  to  keep  them  free 


M.  47-63.]  REFORMATION   IN   SAXONY.  509 

from  the  influence  of  the  Reformation.  Even  his 
brother  Henry,  who  held  his  court  at  Freiberg, 
favoured  the  evangelical  doctrines.  Finally,  Prince 
John,  son  of  the  duke,  on  whom  he  relied  for  the 
maintenance  of  the  Catholic  faith  after  his  death, 
died  before  him,  and  afterward  another  son ;  and 
the  Protestant  Henry  was  the  next  heir  to  the 
throne.  Just  at  the  time  that  a  dangerous  league 
of  Catholic  princes  was  expected  to  open  an  attack 
upon  the  Protestants,  George,  a  leader  among 
them,  suddenly  died,  and  all  their  plans  were  de- 
stroyed in  a  moment. 

Luther  and  his  associates  were  now  called  upon 
by  Duke  Henry  of  Saxony  to  introduce  the  Refor- 
mation into  his  dominions,  beginning  at  Leipsic. 
Luther  preached  his  first  sermon  on  this  occasion, 
May  24,  1539,  in  the  chapel  of  the  same  palace 
where,  twenty  years  before,  he  had  held  his  de- 
bate with  Eck.  This  was  in  fulfilment  of  his  own 
prediction  : — "  I  see  that  Duke  George  will  not 
cease  opposing  the  word  of  God  and  the  poor 
Lutherans.  Rut  I  shall  live  to  see  him  and  his 
whole  family  perish,  and  shall  one  day  preach 
God's  word  in  Leipsic."  The  next  day,  when  he 
preached  in  St.  Nicholas'  church,  there  was  such 
a  crowd  that  all  the  space  about  the  pillars  and 
railings  and  passages  was  full,  and  many  stood 
out  of  doors  and  heard  him  through  the  windows. 
The  hearers  fell  upon  their  knees,  and  with  tears 
thanked  God  that  the  day  of  their  deliverance  had 
come ! 

It  was  at  the  close  of  the  same  year,  that  the  un- 
happy consultations  commenced  about  the  bigamy 

43* 


510  LIFE   OF   LUTHER,  [1530-1546. 

of  the  Landgrave  of  Hesse.  Luther  and  Melanc- 
thon  were  involved  in  inextricable  difficulties  by 
the  false  principles  on  which  they  suffered  them- 
selves to  act.  That  they  acted  hypocritically,  out 
of  fear  of  offending  the  landgrave,  as  has  often  been 
said,  is  hardly  credible ;  that  they  were  misled 
by  their  ill-advised  casuistry,  is  but  too  evident. 
Nothing  was  ever  thrown  into  their  teeth  with 
more  bitterness  and  scorn  by  the  Catholics,  than 
their  secret  approval  of  this  flagrant  violation  of 
Christian  morals.  A  sufficient  apology  for  their 
conduct  in  the  unhappy  affair  cannot  be  given. 
It  so  wore  upon  Melancthon's  feelings  as  to  bring 
on  a  sickness  which  came  very  near  proving  fatal. 

Conventions,  conferences  and  diets  were  still 
held,  during  the  succeeding  next  two  or  three 
years,  at  Smalcald,  Worms,  Ratisbon  and  Spire, 
to  settle  the  difficulties  between  the  Catholics  and 
Protestants ;  but  Luther,  who  was  tired  of  these 
useless  endeavours,  excused  himself  from  attend- 
ing them,  and  the  task  was  imposed  upon  Melanc- 
thon  and  others,  whom  Luther  aided  by  his  counsels. 
The  last  years  of  Luther's  life  were  rendered  cheer- 
less, partly  by  the  death  of  many  dear  friends,  and 
partly  by  the  unhappiness  which  sprung  up  be- 
tween himself  and  the  living.  These  events  will 
be  sufficiently  presented  in  the  extracts  from  his 
letters  which  follow. 

Although  more  than  thirteen  hundred  octavo 
pages  of  letters  were  written  by  Luther  after  his 
return  from  Coburg  in  1530,  only  a  small  part  of 
them  relate  to  his  private  history.  The  remainder 
are  connected  with  public  transactions,  of  so  com- 


JE.  47-63.]  EXTRACTS   FROM   LETTERS.  511 

plicated  a  character,  that  a  full  explanation  of 
them  would  of  itself  constitute  a  general  history 
of  Germany  for  the  times.  Only  a  few  selections, 
therefore,  can,  in  accordance  with  the  plan  of  this 
work,  find  a  place  here. 

The  third  letter  written  after  his  return  to  Wit- 
tenberg was  addressed  to  Amsdorf,  his  confiden- 
tial friend.  In  this  he  says  :  "  In  complaining 
unto  me  of  my  silence,  most  excellent  Amsdorf, 
you  do  but  furnish  me  with  an  occasion  of  justly 
expostulating  with  you  for  yours,  which  hath 
been  so  obstinate  and  persevering.  For  when 
you  did  know  of  my  solitude,  you  were  not  only 
wanting  in  commiseration,  so  as  not  to  comfort 
me  with  your  letters,  but  you  added  grief  to 
grief,  by  afflicting  me  with  perpetual  silence. 
And  now  you  even  add  to  your  sin  by  gratui- 
tously reproving  and  censuring  me  for  a  fault,  not 
my  own,  but  yours.  You  compel  me  to  suspect 
that  you  have  meanwhile,  perhaps,  been  made 
Archbishop  of  Magdeburg  and  Primate  of  Ger- 
many, so  that  3^ou  easily  forget  me  in  my  poverty, 
and  proudly  censure  me.  Hence  it  cometli,  I 
think,  that  you  complain  of  my  calling  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Mainz  '  most  reverend  father,'  lest  I 
may  thereby  detract  somewhat  from  your  honour; 
though  I  only  used  the  language  of  courts,  in 
which  even  ferocious  demons  are  called  'gracious 
lords.'  In  one  thing  you  gratify  me,  namely,  in 
approving  the  books  I  have  published  this  sum- 
mer. More  I  could  not  wTrite,  by  reason  of  my 
poor  health;  and  on  those  which  were  written, 
only  half,  or  a  little  more,  of  the  time  I  was  in  my 


512  LIFE   OF    LUTHER.  [1530-1546. 

solitude,  stolen  with  difficulty  from  sickness,  could 
be  employed.  The  printers  proceeded  with  a  pace 
equally  slow,  for  they  still  have  in  press  two  books 
written  long  ago.  Of  the  rest  I  will  speak  when 
you  come  to  visit  me,  which  I  hope  will  be  very 
soon,  in  order  that  we  may  refresh  ourselves  in 
each  other's  company,  before  we  are  separated  for 
ever.  For  I  feel  that  I  am  fast  growing  old,  at 
least,  am  losing  my  strength.  A  messenger  of 
Satan  hath  severely  buffeted  me.  The  Lord  be 
with  you  in  grace  and  truth." 

The  name  of  Jerome  Weller  has  already  been 
mentioned  as  a  tutor  to  Luther's  son,  and  as  a 
young  man  of  fine  talents,  but  of  melancholy  dis- 
position. His  brother  Peter  was  also  a  friend  of 
Luther,  and  even  lived  in  his  house.  To  the  for- 
mer, in  a  state  of  despondency,  Luther,  whose 
experience  well  qualified  him  for  the  office,  wrote 
the  following  words  of  encouragement,  under  date 
of  November  6,  1530:  "My  dearest  Jerome,  you 
ought  to  consider  that  this  temptation  of  yours  is 
from  the  devil ;  and  that  he  thus  vexeth  you  be- 
cause you  believe  in  Christ.  For  you  see  how 
secure  and  joyful  he  lets  those  be  who  are  most 
hostile  to  the  gospel,  as  Eck,  Zwingle  and 
others.  .  .  .  You  ought  to  rejoice  in  this  tempta- 
tion of  the  devil,  because  it  is  a  sure  sign  that 
God  is  propitious  and  merciful  to  you.  You  will 
say,  'The  temptation  is  heavier  than  I  can  bear,' 
and  will  fear  lest  it  so  prostrate  and  oppress  you 
that  you  will  fall  into  desperation  and  blasphemy. 
I  know  this  art  of  the  devil :  whom  he  cannot  by 
the  first  assault  lay  prostrate,  he  endeavoureth 


M.  47-63.]  EXTRACTS    FROM   LETTERS.  513 

assiduously  to  harass  mid  debilitate,  that  he  may 
fall  and  confess  himself  vanquished.  Wherefore, 
as  often  as  this  temptation  cometh  upon  you,  take 
care  that  you  do  not  debate  with  the  devil,  or  in- 
dulge in  these  deadly  cogitations.  For  this  is  but 
to  believe  the  devil,  and  to  yield  to  him.  But 
rather  boldly  despise  these  cogitations  suggested 
by  the  devil.  In  this  kind  of  temptation  contempt 
is  the  best  and  easiest  means  of  overcoming  the 
devil.  Laugh  your  adversary  to  scorn,  then,  and 
seek  for  a  companion  or  friend.  Flee  solitude,  for 
he  then  lieth  in  wait  for  you,  and  catcheth  }rou 
when  you  are  alone.  This  devil  is  overcome,  not 
by  resistance  and  disputation,  but  by  ridicule  and 
contempt.  Indulge,  therefore,  in  playfulness  and 
facetiousness  with  my  wife  and  others,  and  by  that 
means  delude  those  diabolical  machinations,  and 
be  of  good  cheer.  This  temptation  is  more  need- 
ful to  }rou  than  your  meat  and  drink.  I  wish  to 
relate  what  happened  unto  me  when  I  was  about 
your  age.  When  I  first  went  into  the  monastery, 
it  happened  that  I  was  always  falling  sad  and 
melancholy,  nor  could  I  lay  this  sadness  aside. 
Wherefore  I  consulted  Dr.  Staupitz,  and  confessed 
to  him,  whom  I  love  to  mention,  and  disclosed  to 
him  what  horrid  and  terrific  cogitations  I  had.  lie 
said:  'You  know  not,  Martin,  how  useful  and 
necessary  this  temptation  is  to  you.  For  God 
doth  not  so  exercise  you  in  vain;  you  will  see 
that  he  will  employ  you  to  do  great  things.'  And 
so  it  hath  turned  out.  For  I  am  become  (this  I 
may  justly  say  of  myself)  a  great  doctor,  which 
at  that  time,  when  1  was   under  the  temptation, 


514  LIFE   OF  LUTHER.  [1530-1540. 

I  would  never  have  believed.  So,  beyond  all 
doubt,  will  it  be  with  you.  You  will  become  a 
great  man.  See  that  you  be  of  good  heart,  and 
be  assured  that  such  words,  coming  from  the  lips 
of  learned  and  great  men,  are  a  sort  of  oracle  and 
divination." 

To  Veit  Dietrich,  now  in  Coburg,  he  writes  : 
"  I  have  succeeded  to  the  labours  of  Bugenhagen, 
[the  city  pastor ;]  I  preach,  lecture  [in  the  uni- 
versity,] am  distracted  with  causes  to  be  decided, 
and  am  busy  in  writing  letters,  so  that  I  can  do 
no  more.  Salute  all  in  my  name.  I  must  seize 
time  by  force,  if  I  would  do  any  thing  out  of  my 
line  of  duties.  My  head  still  roareth,  especially 
in  the  morning." 

As  pastor,  he  had  occasion  to  perform  new 
duties,  one  of  which,  relating  to  a  breach  of  pro- 
mise, we  find  represented  in  the  following  official 
letter :  "  I,  Martin  Luther,  doctor  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  and  preacher  at  Wittenberg,  do  you, 
Brosius  Heinrich  of  Dittersdorf,  to  wit,  that  the 
honourable  lady  Anna,  widow  of  Wetzel  of  Zerne- 
gal,  hath  appeared  before  me,  and  entered  com- 
plaint that  you  promised  her  proper  marriage,  and 
was  therefore  publicly  affianced  to  her ;  and,  not- 
withstanding this,  have  abandoned  her,  and  refused 
to  fulfil,  according  to  promise  and  duty,  (which  are 
I  lint  ling  before  God  and  all  the  world,)  to  consum- 
mate the  marriage  with  the  aforesaid  lady.  Where- 
fore she  hath  called  upon  me,  as  pastor,  for  the 
time  being,  at  Wittenberg,  to  protect  her  in  her 
rights.  In  place,  therefore,  of  the  pastor,  I  hereby 
peremptorily  summon  and  cite  you  to  appear  be- 


M.  47-G3.]  EXTRACTS   FROM   LETTERS.  515 

fore  me  and  others,  who  have  such  things  in 
charge,  here  at  Wittenberg,  to  hear  said  com- 
plaint, and  whatever  else  is  right  and  proper." 

The  deliberation  of  Luther  with  his  young  friend 
Jerome  Welter,  in  regard  to  his  marriage  celebra- 
tion, is  not  without  interest  to  us.  "  I  have  learned 
with  satisfaction,"  says  Luther  in  a  letter  to  him, 
"  that  you  have  become  a  man,  and  have  obtained 
a  companion.  .  .  .  May  Christ  bless  you  and  your 
spouse,  and  grant  that  you  may  always  live  to- 
gether with  kindness  and  affection.  I  do  not  en- 
tirely approve  of  your  plan  for  the  wedding.  You 
know  the  difficulty  under  which  we  labour  here 
because  of  our  market,  so  that  neither  I  nor  my 
katy  can  conceive  how,  in  such  a  destitution  of 
all  things,  we  can  provide  a  suitable  dinner  for 
such  a  multitude.  I  would  not  like  to  leave  any 
stain  upon  your  honour  or  mine.  I  think  it  would 
be  better  to  celebrate  the  marriage  in  Freiberg, 
[Weller's  residence,]  or,  if  that  cannot  be  done, 
to  take  leave  of  your  friends  there  with  a  splendid 
entertainment  for  as  many  as  would  be  convenient, 
and  then  come  hither  with  a  small  company,  as 
Cruciger,  Dr.  Briick  and  others  did,  and  prepare 
a  collation  or  dinner  of  two  or  three  tables.  ...  If 
you  were  to  invite  all  the  university  and  the  fa- 
milies of  the  professors,  and  others,  who  could  not 
on  my  account  be  omitted,  you  would  need  nine 
or  twelve  tables.  You  remember  thai  on  receiv- 
ing your  doctorate,  yon  invited  the  men  without 
their  wives  and  children,  and  yet  seven  or  eight 
tables   were  filled."     In  another  letter,   he    sa\  s 


516  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1550-1546. 

such  a  public  wedding  in  Wittenberg  would  cost 
one  hundred  gulden. 

In  January  of  1537,  Luther  wrote  to  his  son 
John,  who  was  at  school,  these  affectionate  and 
judicious  lines  :  "  Thus  far,  my  dearest  John,  your 
studies  and  the  letters  you  have  written  please  me. 
If  you  go  on  thus,  you  will  not  only  gratify  me,  a 
tender  father,  but  will  chiefly  benefit  yourself  in 
not  becoming  degenerate.  Wherefore  proceed  dili- 
gently as  you  have  begun.  For  God,  who  com- 
mandeth  children  to  obey  their  parents,  promiseth 
blessings  to  obedient  children.  See  that  you  re- 
gard this  blessing  only,  and  that  you  do  not  allow 
yourself  to  be  misled  by  bad  examples.  For  the 
same  God  threateneth  disobedient  children  with 
cursing.  Fear  God,  then,  who  blesseth  and  curseth, 
and  who,  though  he  delay  his  promises  and  threat- 
enings  to  the  destruction  of  the  wicked,  fulfilleth 
them  soon  enough  for  the  salvation  of  the  good. 
Fear  God,  then,  and  listen  to  your  parents,  who  de- 
sire nothing  but  your  good,  and  flee  base  and  evil 
conversation.  Your  mother  heartily  saluteth  you, 
as  also  aunt  Lene,  with  your  sisters  and  brothers, 
who  also  all  look  forward  to  your  happy  career  and 
the  end  of  your  studies.  Your  mother  biddcth 
you  salute  your  preceptor  and  his  wife.  If  they 
wish  to  come  with  you  this  carnival  or  vacation, 
very  well,  though  I  shall  be  absent.  Aunt  Lene 
desireth  it  very  much.  Farewell,  my  son ;  learn 
and  practise  the  counsels  of  good  men.  The  Lord 
be  with  you." 

The  Smalcald  convention  was  held  in  February 
of  this  year.     A  few  words  from  Luther's  letters 


M.  47-63.]      EXTRACTS  FROM  LETTERS.         517 

will  sufficiently  represent  to  us  the  character  of 
that  convention,  and  the  feelings  which  he  cher- 
ished in  respect  to  it.  "Although,  my  dear  Jonas," 
he  writes  to  him  from  Altenburg,  "  this  letter,  as 
I  suppose,  will  not  come  to  hand  immediately, 
nevertheless  I  desire  to  say  that  I  hope  you  are 
by  this  time  recovered  from  the  gravel,  and  that 
my  prayers  are  heard.  It  is  rumoured  that  the 
holy  legate,  [Peter  Vorst,]  Bishop  of  Aix,  is  on 
his  way  from  Nuremberg  to  visit  our  prince.  This 
hath  been  written  to  him  from  Coburg,  whereunto 
he  replied,  that  the  legate  must  come  to  Smalcald, 
if  he  desired  to  see  him.  .  .  .  The  imperial  chan- 
cellor, Matthias  Held,  will  be  there.  The  conven- 
tion will,  perhaps,  be  greater  than  either  party 
expected.  God  grant  that  it  may  be  a  true  coun- 
cil. ...  I  miss  your  company  exceedingly.  Visit 
my  family,  and  also  the  Pomeranian  Rome  [the 
family  of  Pomeranus,  or  Bugenhagen]  and  its  Qui- 
rites,  [citizens.]  We  are  well  and  happy,  and 
have  been  sumptuously  entertained  by  the  prince 
in  his  castles  at  Grimma  and  Altenburg.  We  had 
hoped  to  be  guests  of  that  old  Pylades  [true  friend] 
and  Theseus,  [namely,  Spalatin;]  and  therefore 
amused  ourselves,  after  our  manner,  which  you 
know,  in  making  Latin  verses  on  him. 

"  I  wish  to  write  to  you  while  I  have  leisure ; 
for  after  a  little  time  we  shall  be  engaged  in  de- 
liberation.  .  .  .  Many  think  there  will  not  be  as 
many  men  at  the  council  of  Mantua  as  here,  though 
there  may  be  more  mules,  asses  and  horses,  with 
riders  like  themselves.  .  .  .  Yesterday  the  Land- 
grave of  Hesse  and  the  Duke  of  Wirtemberg  made 

u 


518  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1530-1540. 

a  splendid  entry  into  the  city.  To-day,  the  princes 
are  in  secret  council,  while  we  are  at  leisure,  and 
c;in  write.  What  will  be  done  I  do  not  know,  nor 
can  I  divine.  Yesterday  Spalatin  preached ;  to- 
day I  shall  do  the  same  before  the  princes,  in  the 
lofty  and  spacious  parish  church,  which  is  so  large 
that  our  voices  will  sound  like  that  of  a  mouse  in 
it.  The  place  and  the  climate  are  healthy,  and  we 
are  well.  You  only  are  missed.  You  would  like 
to  see  so  many  great  men,  and  to  be  seen  among 
them.  Yesterday  I  suffered  from  the  gravel." 
The  dangerous  illness,  already  described,  imme- 
diately ensued. 

In  May,  1538,  he  wrote  to  Duke  Albert  of 
Prussia,  on  the  Vistula,  in  behalf  of  his  brother- 
in-law,  who  wished  to  enter  again  into  the  service 
of  that  excellent  prince.  "My  brother-in-law," 
he  says,  "John  von  Bora,  who  was  formerly  in 
your  service  at  JNIemel,  [near  the  borders  of  Rus- 
sia,] hath  desired  me  to  write  to  you.  lie  was 
forced  to  stay  away  from  you  long,  to  marry  and 
settle  on  his  estate,  in  order  to  hold  possession  of 
it ;  but  hath  never  wished  to  abandon  your  ser- 
vice. He  hath  always  spoken  in  your  praise,  and 
desired  to  be  in  your  employ ;  and  now  it  is  his 
request  that  you  will  take  his  long  absence  in 
good  part,  which  was  caused  only  by  the  neces- 
sity of  securing  his  own  and  his  brother's  estate." 
This  brother  "of  Catharine  von  Bora,  Luther's  wife, 
is  often  mentioned  by  Luther  in  his  letters.  In 
1539,  failing  of  an  appointment  in  the  service  of 
Duke  Albert,  he  was  made  overseer  of  a  Bene- 
dictine nunnery  in  Leipsic,  by  Henry,  Duke  of 


S.  47-68.]  EXTRACTS  FROM  LETTERS.  519 

Saxony.  Afterward  he  obtained  from  the  Elector 
John  Frederic,  a  small  estate,  a  little  south  of  Al- 
fcenburg,  which  he  retained  from  1545  to  L560. 

Not  long  after  writing  the  letter  quoted  in  pari 
above,  he  wrote  the  following  lines  to  a  judge  in 
Torgau  :  "  'Serve  the  Lord  with  fear,  and  be  in- 
structed, ye  judges  of  the  earth.'  These  words 
should  be  the  judge's  daily  motto;  and  it  is,  I 
think,  yours.  For  you  are  such  a  pious  and 
Christian  judge,  as  all  who  know  you  testify.  I 
thank  you,  my  dear  Judge  Antony,  that  you  gave 
your  assistance  to  Margaret  Dorste,  and  did  not 
allow  the  nobles  to  take  away  her  property  and 
her  very  blood.  You  know  that  Dr.  Martin  is  not 
only  a  theologian  and  a  champion  of  the  faith,  but 
a  defender  of  the  rights  of  the  poor  people,  who 
come  to  him  from  all  quarters  to  get  help  before 
magistrates,  so  that  he  would  have  enough  to  do, 
if  he  had  no  other  business.  But  Dr.  Luther 
loveth  to  serve  the  poor,  as  do  you  also;  for  you 
fear  the  Lord;  you  love  Christ;  you  study  the 
word  of  Grod,  and  still  learn  your  catechism  daily 
no  less  than  the  children  in  the  school.  Christ, 
the  Lord,  will  remember  this  of  you.  But,  dear 
Judge  Antony,  it  was  not  enough  for  you  to  listen 
to  my  request  and  entreaty,  and  to  give  me  pleas- 
ing intelligence  of  your  love  and  readiness  to  grant 
my  request,  but  you  must  honour  me  with  a  pre- 
sent— with  a  whole  cask  of  Torgau  beer  of  your 
own  brewing.  I  am  unworthy  of  such  kindness; 
and,  though  I  know  that  you  are  not  poor,  but 
thai  Cod  hath  blessed  you  with  abundance,  still  I 
should  have   liked  better  that  you  should  have 


520  LIFE    OF   LUTHER,  [1530-1546. 

given  it  to  the  poor,  and  from  their  prayers  have 
received  a  greater  blessing  than  you  can  from  poor 
Martin's  alone." 

The  following  touching  allusion  to  the  death  of 
the  companion  who  went  with  him,  when  a  boy,  to 
the  school  at  Magdeburg,  will  be  read  with  inte- 
rest. "It  is  strange,"  says  he,  in  writing  to  a 
citizen  of  Mansfeld,  "  how  carefully  all  my  friends 
and  relations  concealed  from  me  the  death  of  John 
Reineck,  your  brother-in-law,  and  my  best  friend. 
Neither  my  brother  Jacob  nor  my  Katy  was  will- 
ing that  I  should  know  any  thing  of  it  in  my  sick- 
ness. Yet  I  rejoice  that  he  died  so  happily  and 
piously,  though  I  bear  with  reluctance  and  grief 
the  loss  of  such  a  man." 

Under  date  of  1539,  we  find  a  letter  of  Luther 
to  his  sister,  whom  he  addresses  as  "  Lady  Do- 
rothy, wife  of  Balthasar  Mackenrot,  in  the  ser- 
vice of  the  elector  at  Rossla,"  in  the  vicinity  of 
Nordhausen.  He  there  says  :  "  Dear  sister,  I 
see  from  your  letter  to  me  that  your  highly  bur- 
dened conscience  longs  after  the  comforting  preach- 
ing of  the  gospel,  and  that  you  desire  it  to  be 
introduced  into  your  church  at  Rossla.  Rejoic- 
ing thereat,  I  have  resolved  to  be  with  you  at 
Christmas,  if  God  shall  spare  my  life  and  health, 
and  to  introduce,  with  God's  help,  the  first  evan- 
gelical preaching  myself  both  at  Rossla  and  LTpper 
Rossla,  and  to  establish  it  as  a  memorial.  Greet 
your  husband,  and  your  little  daughter  Margaret, 
for  whom  I  will  bring  some  present."  This  sister 
survived  Luther  several  years. 

When  his  daughter  Magdalene  was  apparently 


M.  47-63.]  EXTRACTS   FROM   LETTERS.  521 

near  her  end,  Luther  wrote  to  Torgau,  Septem- 
ber G,  lo42,  for  his  son  John,  who  was  attending 
school  there.  "  I  request  yon,"  he  said  to  Marcus 
Crodel,  "  to  keep  from  my  son  John  what  I  now 
write  you.  My  daughter  Magdalene  is  drawing- 
near  to  death,  and  will  soon  be  with  her  true  Fa- 
ther in  heaven,  unless  it  shall  seem  best  to  God 
that  it  should  be  otherwise.  But  she  longeth  so 
much  to  see  her  brother,  that  I  am  constrained  to 
send  a  carriage  for  him,  hoping  she  may  live  till 
he  returneth.  They  were  very  fond  of  each  other. 
I  do  whatsoever  I  can,  that  my  conscience  may 
not  afterward  reproach  me.  Direct  him,  there- 
fore, without  mentioning  the  reason,  to  hasten 
home  in  this  carriage,  by  which  time  she  will 
cither  be  with  the  Lord,  or  be  restored."  The 
daughter  lived  but  two  weeks.  He  says,  in  a 
letter  to  Justus  Jonas,  after  her  death,  that,  not- 
withstanding her  peaceful  and  happy  departure, 
"  The  power  of  parental  affection  is  such,  that  he 
cannot  suppress  his  sighs  and  groans."  "  The 
countenance,  words  and  motions  of  the  living  and 
dying  daughter,  so  obedient  and  reverent,  remain 
deeply  fixed  in  my  heart." 

The  same  year,  Jonas  experienced  a  great 
bereavement  in  the  death  of  his  wife,  the  most 
intimate  of  all  the  friends  of  Luther's  family. 
The  latter  wrote  to  Jonas  thus  :  "  What  to  write 
I  know  not,  so  suddenly  hath  your  calamity 
stricken  me  down.  We  have  all  lost  one  of  the 
sweetest  of  companions.  She  was  not  only  be- 
loved by  me,  but  her  countenance  was  always 
pleasant  and   full   <>('  consolation,  so  that  we  had 


44* 


522  LIFE   OF  LUTHER.  [1530-1546. 

all  our  joys  and  sorrows  in  common,  and  bitter 
indeed  is  the  separation.  I  had  hoped  she  would 
survive  me,  as  the  best  and  first  comforter  among 
women  for  my  wife  and  children." 

In  1545,  the  }^ear  before  his  death,  Luther  be- 
came dissatisfied,  as  he  had  often  been  before, 
with  the  people  of  Wittenberg  for  their  luxury 
and  wanton  pleasures.  He  even  resolved  to  leave 
the  place  and  spend  the  remnant  of  his  days  else- 
where; and  in  May  actually  forsook  Wittenberg, 
and  went  first  to  Leibnitz  to  his  friend  Ernest  von 
Schonfeld;  then  to  Leipsic  to  see  a  mercantile 
friend  by  the  name  of  Scherle ;  afterward  to 
Merseburg  to  the  provost,  Prince  George  of  An- 
halt ;  and  finally,  to  Zeitz  to  visit  Amsdorf,  now 
bishop.  But  the  entreaties  of  a  deputation  from 
the  elector  and  from  the  university  induced  him 
to  return.  His  last  work  was  the  completion  of 
his  Commentary  on  Genesis,  on  which  he  had 
laboured  diligently  ten  years.  The  closing  words 
are  :  "  I  am  weak,  and  can  do  no  more.  Pray  God 
that  he  may  grant  me  a  peaceful,  happy  death." 

The  Counts  of  Mansfeld  had  been  for  several 
years  at  variance  with  some  of  their  subjects, 
whom  they  wished  to  deprive  of  their  furnaces. 
Luther's  brother-in-law,  Mackenrot,  was  in  danger 
of  losing  his.  Luther  had  written  to  Count  Al- 
bert on  the  subject  in  1540  and  in  1542,  and 
also  to  the  other  two  counts,  Philip  and  George. 
These  counts  were  in  controversy  also  with  each 
other,  in  respect  to  what  is  called  the  right  of 
patronage.  Luther,  who  had  advised  them  to 
settle  the  matter  by  a  reference,  was  himself  re- 


M.  47-63  ]  AT  EISLEBEN.  523 

quested  to  be  one  of  the  referees,  and  gave  his 
consent.  Though  it  was  contrary  to  his  custom 
to  intermeddle  in  secular  disputes,  he  yielded  in 
this  case,  because  he  was  a  native  of  Mansfeld, 
and  owed  it  a  service.  He  left  Wittenberg,  Jan- 
uary 23,  154G,  with  his  three  sons,  John,  Martin 
and  Paul.  On  the  25th  he  reached  Halle,  and 
stopped  with  Jonas  the  three  following  days,  on 
account  of  the  flood  in  the  river  Saale.  From 
this  place  he  wrote  to  his  wife :  "  Dear  Katy, 
We  came  hither  at  eleven  o'clock,  but  did  not 
proceed  to  Eisleben :  for  a  great  Anabaptist  met 
us  with  his  waves  and  blocks  of  ice.  We  could 
not  return  on  account  of  the  river  Mulda.  There- 
fore we  were  forced  to  remain  at  Halle  between 
two  floods,  not  that  we  were  thirsting  for  these 
waters,  for  we  have  good  Torgau  beer  and  Rhenish 
wine,  and  indulged  in  these  till  the  wrath  of  the 
Saale  should  cool  off'." 

On  the  28th,  Luther,  his  three  sons  and  Jonas, 
crossed  the  river  in  a  boat,  not  without  danger, 
that  they  might  proceed  to  Eisleben.  No  sooner 
had  they  reached  the  boundaries  of  the  county  of 
Mansfeld,  than  the  counts  met  them  with  an  escort 
of  one  hundred  and  thirteen  horsemen.  Before 
reaching  Eisleben,  Luther  was  very  ill,  but  re- 
covered after  being  rubbed  with  warm  cloths. 
From  January  29th  to  February  17th,  he  was 
engaged  every  day  at  Eisleben,  with  the  counts,  in 
settling  their  difficulties.  He  became  impatient 
at  his  apparent  want  of  success,  and  often  wished 
himself  at  homo  again. 

February  G,  he  wrote  as  follows:  "To  the  pro- 


524  LIFE   OF  LUTHER.  [1530-1540. 

foundry  learned  lady,  Catharine  Luther,  my  gra- 
cious housewife  at  Wittenberg.  Dear  Katy,  We 
continue  here  in  a  state  of  vexation,  and  wish  our- 
selves away ;  but  that  cannot  be,  I  think,  within 
a  week.  You  may  tell  Melancthon  to  correct  his 
Postil,  for  he  did  not  understand  why  the  Lord 
called  riches  thorns.  This  is  a  school  for  learning 
to  understand  that.  .  .  .  Your  sons  are  at  Mans- 
feld.  We  have  enough  to  eat  and  to  drink,  and 
should  have  good  times,  were  it  not  for  these  dis- 
agreeable transactions." 

While  at  Eisleben,  his  native  place,  he  com- 
muned twice,  ordained  two  priests,  and  preached 
four  times.  Three  days  before  his  death,  he 
preached  in  the  pulpit,  which  is  still  standing,  his 
last  sermon,  from  Matt.  xi.  25-30,  and  closed  by 
saying  :  "  This,  and  much  more,  may  be  said  from 
the  passage,  but  I  am  too  weak,  and  here  we  will 
stop."  During  his  stay  at  Eisleben,  his  conversation 
was  unusually  rich  and  impressive,  both  on  religious 
and  other  subjects.  lie  experienced  all  that  ex- 
hilaration which  an  old  man  is  wont  to  have  in 
visiting  the  place  of  his  birth.  Every  evening, 
for  those  twenty-one  clays,  he  retired,  about  eight 
o'clock,  from  the  great  hall,  where  the  company 
transacted  their  business  and  took  their  meals,  to 
his  private  apartment,  and,  standing  by  the  win- 
dow, prayed  for  a  long  time  so  earnestly  that  Dr. 
Jonas,  M.  Coelius,  preacher  at  Mansfeld,  his  ser- 
vant Ambrose,  and  Aurifaber  of  Weimar,  often 
overheard  him. 

On  Wednesday,  the  17th  of  February,  the 
Princes  of  Anhalt  and  Count  Albert  of  Mansfeld 


M.  47-63.]  DEATH-SCENE.  525 

and  his  friends  generally  entreated  him  not  to 
enter  the  great  hall  during  the  business  in  the 
forenoon,  but  to  take  repose  in  his  own  room.  He 
did  so,  lying  a  part  of  the  time  upon  his  leathern 
couch,  walking  the  room  a  part  of  the  time,  and 
going  to  the  window  at  times,  and  praying  so  that 
Jonas  and  Coelius,  who  were  with  him  in  the  room, 
could  hear  him.  At  noon  he  left  his  own  apart- 
ment, and  dined  in  the  great  hall  with  the  com- 
pany. At  table  he  was  heard  to  say:  "If  I 
could  only  reconcile  the  rulers  of  my  native  place 
with  one  another,  and  then,  with  God's  permission, 
make  the  journey,  I  would  go  home,  and  lay  my- 
self down  to  sleep  in  my  grave,  and  let  the  worms 
devour  my  body."  In  the  afternoon,  before  supper, 
he  complained  of  a  painful  pressure  at  the  breast, 
and  requested  that  he  might,  according  to  his  cus- 
tom, be  rubbed  with  warm  cloths.  He  experienced 
a  little  relief,  and  was  able  to  take  his  supper  in 
the  hall.  His  conversation  at  this  time,  which  is 
recorded,  related  to  death,  eternity  and  the  recog- 
oition  of  friends  in  a  future  state.  As  he  arose 
Iron)  supper,  he  went  to  his  room,  accompanied  by 
his  two  sons,  Martin  and  Paul,  then  fourteen  and 
thirteen  years  of  age  respectively,  and  Coelius. 
Soon  the  latter  left  the  room,  and  Aurifaber  en- 
tered. Luther  now  complained  of  a  pain  in  the 
breast,  as  before.  Jonas  and  Coelius  were  imme- 
diately called,  who  rubbed  him  with  warm  cloths, 
and  Count  Albert,  who  brought  with  him  the 
shavings  from  the  tooth  of  a  sea-unicorn,  a  fa- 
vourite medicine  in  those  days,  and  Luther  took 
it.     He  sl.pt  till  ten  o'clock  in  the  evening,  and 


52G  LIFE   OF   LUTHER.  [1530-154G. 

Jonas,  Coelius,  his  host  Albrecht,  and  his  wife, 
Ambrose  and  Luther's  two  sons  watched  with 
him.  At  ten  he  arose,  and  attempted  to  walk, 
but  was  obliged  to  return  to  his  bed.  He  after- 
ward slept  till  one  o'clock,  and  when  he  awoke  he 
requested  Ambrose  to  make  more  fire,  although 
the  room  had  been  kept  very  warm.  As  Jonas 
asked  him  whether  he  felt  weak,  he  replied :  "  Oh ! 
how  I  suffer.  Oh !  my  dear  Jonas,  I  think  I  shall 
die  here  at  Eisleben,  where  I  was  born  and  bap- 
tized." The  friends  were  awaked  and  called  in. 
When  Jonas  spoke  encouragingly  of  his  profuse 
sweat,  Luther  said,  "  It  is  a  cold  death-sweat ;  I 
must  yield  up  my  spirit,  for  my  malady  increas- 
eth."  He  then  prayed  fervently,  and  commended 
his  soul  confidently  to  God.  After  taking  a  little 
medicine,  and  assuring  his  friends  that  he  should 
die,  he  repeated  three  times  quickly  the  words  : 
"  Father,  into  thy  hands  do  I  commend  my  spirit ; 
thou  hast  redeemed  me,  thou  faithful  God."  He 
then  became  quiet.  The  attendants  shook  him, 
rubbed  him,  and  spoke  to  him,  but  he  closed  his 
eyes  and  made  no  reply.  Jonas  and  Coelius  then 
spoke  very  loud,  and  said,  "  Venerable  father,  do 
you  die  trusting  in  Christ  and  in  the  doctrine 
which  you  have  preached  ?"  and  he  answered  dis- 
tinctly, "Yes,"  and  turned  upon  his  right  side  and 
seemed  to  sleep  for  nearly  a  quarter  of  an  hour. 
His  friends  were  encouraged,  but  the  physician 
told  them  that  it  was  no  favourable  symptom.  A 
light  was  brought  near  his  face,  and  it  was  evi- 
dently turning  pale  ;  and  his  forehead,  lace  and 
feet  were  becoming  cold.    After  one  gentle  breath 


M.  47-63.]  FUNERAL   CEREMONIES.  527 

and  sigh,  with  folded  hands,  he  quietly  died,  on 
Thursday,  the  18th  of  February,  1546,  between 
two  and  three  o'clock  in  the  morning,  at  the  age 
of  sixty-two  years,  three  months  and  eight  days, 
lie  was  laid  out  upon  a  bed  till  a  lead  coffin  could 
be  cast ;  and  two  painters  were  employed  to  take 
his  likeness. 

On  the  19th  of  February,  at  two  o'clock,  a 
funeral  discourse  was  preached  by  Justus  Jonas 
before  a  large  audience  at  St.  Andrew's  church, 
which  stands  nearly  opposite  the  house  where 
Luther  died.  The  corpse  remained  over  night  in 
the  church,  guarded  by  ten  men.  The  Counts  of 
Mansfeld  desired  that  he  might  be  buried  at  Eisle- 
ben,  where  he  was  born  and  where  he  died.  But 
the  Elector  of  Saxony  was  desirous  that'  his  re- 
mains should  be  brought  to  Wittenberg,  and  depo- 
sited in  the  collegiate  or  electoral  church,  and  the 
counts  yielded  to  his  wishes.  Another  funeral 
discourse,  however,  was  pronounced  by  Michael 
Coelius,  of  Mansfeld,  before  the  body  was  removed 
from  Eisleben. 

The  same  day,  between  twelve  and  one  o'clock, 
the  corpse  was  removed,  a  great  company  follow- 
ing it  to  the  gate  of  the  city,  and  the  Counts  of 
Mansfeld,  with  about  fifty-five  horsemen,  proceed- 
ing with  it  to  Wittenberg.  As  they  passed  along 
the  way  to  Halle,  the  bells  were  tolled  in  the  vil- 
Lages  and  many  people  came  to  express  their  grief. 
At  five  o'clock,  as  they  approached  Halle,  the 
clergy,  civil  authorities,  citizens,  schools,  matrons. 
virgins  and  children  in  great  multitudes  came  out 
in  mourning,  and  singing  funeral  hymns  to  meet 


528  EIFE    OF    LUTHER.  [1530-1546. 

the  procession.  At  one  of  the  churches,  to  which 
the  body  was  conveyed  at  seven  o'clock  in  the 
evening,  one  of  Luther's  hymns  was  sung  amid  a 
flood  of  tears,  and  then  a  watch  was  stationed 
there  for  the  night.  The  next  morning,  which 
was  Sunday,  the  procession  left  the  city  in  the 
same  manner  in  which  they  entered  it,  and  reached 
Bitterfield  at  noon,  where  they  were  received  with 
becoming  ceremony.  Here  they  were  met  by  the 
delegation  from  Wittenberg  sent  by  the  elector. 
They  came  as  far  as  Kemberg,  and  it  was  even- 
ing. The  next  morning,  they  approached  the 
eastern  gate  of  Wittenberg,  and  were  joined  by 
the  widow  and  sons  of  the  deceased,  and  a  great 
multitude  from  the  university  and  the  city,  and 
passed  amid  crowds  of  people  to  the  church  at  the 
other  end  of  the  town.  Here  the  funeral  cere- 
monies took  r)lace,  and  a  funeral  sermon  was 
preached  by  Bugenhagen,  and  an  address  was 
delivered  by  Melancthon,  after  which  the  remains 
of  Luther  were  deposited  near  the  pulpit  in  which 
he  had  preached,  where  they  still  lie,  to  attract 
the  attention  of  the  thousands  who,  after  three 
centuries,  still  continue  to  visit  Wittenberg,  the 

SEAT  OF  THE  REFORMATION. 


THE   END. 


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The  life  of  Luther;  with  special 

Princeton  Theological  Seminary-Speer  Librar 


1    1012  00030  7035 


